Noise and Kisses
by pinkMimi-chan
Summary: Mimi moves back to Japan, but one of her old friends isn't too happy about it. Will the school play bring them back together?
1. The Plan, The Flight, And Other Things

**Noise and Kisses**

When Mimi moves back to New York, one of her old friends is not particularly happy. Will the school play bring them back together?

A/N: Welcome to my first actual fic I've written in like.. 4 years. I hope it's worthwhile! It kinda drags on at the beginning, but it'll get better - I PROMISE! I don't own Digimon and all that good stuff... Oh yeah and since I'm Canadian, High school starts in GRADE 10!

Here's everyone's ages/grades (I don't care if it doesn't correspond with their actual ages/grades):

Mimi, Koushirou - 16, Grade 11

Taichi, Yamato, Sora - 17, Grade 12

Miyako, Hikari, Takeru, Daisuke, Ken - 15, Grade 10

Iori - WHO CARES?!

Jyou - In University. We won't be hearing from him. Much.

Anyways, without further adieu - here's "Noise and Kisses"

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"Supper time!" called out Mimi's father, Keisuke, as his wife, Satoe, finished setting a home-cooked meal out on the table. He sat down at the head of the table and started scooping rice on to his plate. Satoe sat down opposite him, and also began helping herself to the warm feast. The dining room fell silent, the only noises coming from the slurping and chewing of food. The silence lasted for nearly ten minutes before Keisuke stood up from his chair and stomped on the floor, booming, "MIMI! IT'S TIME FOR SUPPER!" He sat back in his seat, grumbling and shoving his face full of rice.

"I don't understand what's going on in that girl's head," Keisuke fumed, "She's been acting up ever since her sixteenth birthday. What's happened to her, Satoe? I just don't understand."

"Would you like me to go check on her, dear?" inquired Satoe, "Would that make you feel better?"

Keisuke nodded, and Satoe placed her utensils down and pushed away from the table, excusing herself. From the kitchen she headed downstairs, past Mimi's pink bathroom, to the large room with the mirrored double-closet that Mimi claimed as her own. Satoe knocked quietly on the tightly shut door. She knew she was treading on soft ground, as she could hear the sobs coming from inside the room. She pressed her ear to the door and also heard some sort of depressing music; music she could only imagine belonged to some mix tape labeled "Songs To Slit Your Wrists To", or something of the sorts. Mimi did not answer the door, nor did she yell a response to Satoe, nor show any sign that she had heard her mother knocking. Satoe slowly opened the door just wide enough that she could peek inside. What she witnessed made her see the reality of all the things Mimi had told her in the past week since her birthday had passed. And suddenly realizing what she had to do about it, she ran upstairs to devise a plan with her husband.

"Well?" Keisuke questioned when his wife returned to the table.

"I didn't actually get to talk to her," Satoe replied, "but I know what's going on, and I have an idea. You _might _not like it, but just listen to me, alright? Mimi is downstairs right now bawling her eyes out over old pictures of her friends in Japan - you remember Sora Takenouchi, don't you dear? And that Ishida kid? And Yuuko and Susumu's boy, Taichi?"

"Of course I remember them, dear," Keisuke said as he nodded in response.

"Well their pictures are spread across her bed right now. She's listening to some kind of angst-ridden music, and she's crying and grasping onto that stuffed toy they gave her as a gift before she left. I've talked with her earlier this week, Kei, and she told me how much she's missing her friends now. I can only imagine it hurt her when her sweet sixteenth birthday was spent with Michael rather than with her old friends she knows and loves. We took her away from those friendships at a terrible time in her life! When you're a teenager, that's when you need friends the most. I knew she missed them, I just never knew it was this bad..."

"And what exactly do you propose we do about this!?" Keisuke bellowed, "I certainly did not intend to hurt my daughter in moving her to New York - I only hoped to protect her!"

"I know, honey, I know," Satoe responded calmly, "but I think... I think we should send her back to Odaiba - until she finishes up high school. She can stay with your parents, or perhaps her aunt. We have enough money to send her out, and we can protect and support her from afar. She's a strong, independent girl, and she's growing up - whether you like it or not - and I want her to grow up in the best place possible. And I think that place is back in Japan, where she belongs."

"Satoe! That's... you're... I can't believe you would suggest-", Keisuke stammered.

"Think about it, Kei! She's miserable!" she remarked, "I want my daughter to be happy... don't you?"

"Of course I do, Satoe! But..." he started, "No! There's no way in hell I'm sending her back there! I don't want her to be anywhere if she's not under my watchful eye!"

"I'm putting my foot down!" Satoe hollered, "this time _I'm _making the decisions! I'm calling my sister right now, and we are sending Mimi back to Japan! You'll thank me this time next year when Mimi comes back to visit us - she'll be smiling and laughing again! I know you want that!"

With that, Satoe stormed off to her in-home office to make a phone call to her sister, Asuza Tojigamori. After an hour and a half of chit chat, the arrangements had all been made - Mimi was to be moving in with her aunt in less than a week.

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"Do you really need all this?" Satoe asked, holding up a stack of very old crayon drawings. Mimi had been packing the last bit of her luggage with her mother before they headed out to the airport. Her mother took the stack of doodles and shoved them into the box full of recycling.

"Mom!" Mimi cried, "Think of all the memories you just threw away!"

"There'll be plenty more memories to be made, Mimi. You don't need to hold on to everything," Satoe reassured her. Mimi nodded sadly as she stuffed her last pair of pants into her bag. She knew her Mom was right.

"Well," Mimi said, standing up and dusting herself off, "That's the last thing. Guess that's that, huh? I can't believe I'm really going back... I can't thank you enough, Mom."

"Oh, you're very welcome, sweetheart," Satoe replied, embracing her daughter, "Anything for my little girl..."

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"Come on, Tai, you idiot. Pick up your goddamn phone," Yamato mumbled as he dialed his best friend's number for the seventh time.

"Yo yo, Tai here!" came the response on the other line.

"Finally!" exclaimed Yamato, "Where the hell have you been?! I've been trying to reach you for the past twenty minutes!"

"Oh, hey Matt! Sorry, man - I was in the shower. What's up?" Taichi replied.

"What's up?!? We're _supposed _to be at the airport in half an hour - _that's _what's up! Have you completely forgotten - today's the day Mimi's coming back!"

"Oh yeah! Yeah... about that..." Tai began, "Can we make it quick? I wanna take Sora on a date afterwards."

"Yeah - a date in my backyard! Don't tell me you forgot about the barbecue, too?" Yamato retorted.

"What?! Barbecue?! Oh man... this blows!"

"Shut up, Tai. My Dad and I are picking you up in ten - be ready. And try not to be so obnoxious in front of Mimi," Yamato remarked before he clicked the phone off. As he hung up, his father wandered into the room, buttoning up a dark grey dress shirt.

Yamato's father, Hiroaki, was close friends with Mimi's Aunt Asuza, and had arranged for the two of them to transport all the digidestined to the airport to welcome Mimi home. Hiroaki would take Yamato, Takeru, Hikari, Taichi, Sora and Iori. Asuza would take Koushirou, Jyou, Miyako, Daisuke, and Ken. After meeting Mimi at the airport, they would chauffer the kids all back to the Ishida's place for a barbecue, arranged by Sora and Yamato. Mimi and Asuza would stay the night at the Ishida's after what was sure to be a long night of partying, and Mimi and Asuza would depart in the morning.

"Ready to roll, Matt?" Hiroaki asked. Yamato nodded in response, and the two headed into the garage to their van, and then off to pick up the rest of the gang.

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The gang stood around the Arrivals/Departures part of the airport, waiting impatiently for their old friend to finally arrive. They were all talking amongst themselves; some were excited for the barbecue, some just excited to see an old friend, and some were not excited at all.

"Do you think her hair will still be pink?" Miyako wondered, "Or maybe it will be something new! Like blonde! Oh, Mimi would make a fantastic blonde!"

"I hope it's still pink," said Hikari, "I thought the pink looked really nice on her."

"Who the hell cares what color her hair is?" Taichi groaned as he wrapped his arm around Sora.

"Oh, Tai. Don't be so harsh," Sora pleaded.

"I mean it! It's enough that I gotta be here to greet Mimi, when I'd much rather be out doing something with my girlfriend - I don't need to listen to some teenaged girls jabber on about what color hair she's sporting!" Taichi spat.

"Well, your _girlfriend_," Sora snapped, as she removed Tai's arm from around her and took a step away from him, "would like to remain here to greet her best friend, thank you! You can leave if you feel that you don't need to be present for this."

"Then maybe I will leave!" Taichi retorted, "I mean, it's not like _I _care about Mimi!"

At that moment, Mimi had been barely a foot away from the group. Her plane had just arrived, and she thought she would sneak up behind and suprise her friends. Unfortunately, she was the one who received a suprise when she heard Taichi's words. She dropped all her luggage onto the floor, causing a large racket from her massive amount of bags, as her eyes welled up with tears. The noise of the dropped bags startled the digidestined, and they all turned around swiftly to see what the problem was. There were a few gasps of "Mimi!" as the group realised the source of the dropped luggage.

"Maybe it was a mistake... me coming here," Mimi mumbled.

"No!" Sora exclaimed, scrambling to pick up Mimi's bags, "Of course it wasn't a mistake, Mimi! Don't listen to Tai! He's just being a jerk!"

"Yeah, don't listen to that dickface," Yamato offered as he retrieved one of Mimi's many pink suitcases, "He's just being an insufferable loser, as always."

"You take that back, Yamato Ishida!" Taichi exploded, forming his fists into tight balls.

"I'll take it back," Yamato replied, "when _you _take back what you said about Mimi, you bastard!"

"Oh yeah?!" Taichi challenged, as he lunged at Yamato, fists flying. Yamato stepped casually out of the way, and Taichi landed face-first on the linoleum. At that exact moment, Hiroaki had approached the teens, Asuza trailing behind him, both oblivious to what was going on. None of the digidestined had even realized that their two drivers had dissapeared, but were very thankful that they chose this time to show up; no one wanted to see Taichi and Yamato make complete fools of themselves by making a scene.

"Hey, kids!" Hiroaki started cheerfully, "Are we all ready to go back and get this party started?"

"Party?" Mimi inquired.

"Yama and I arranged a barbecue at his house in celebration of your return!" Sora nodded.

Mimi grinned excitedly, "Awesome! Let's go bring the house down!"


	2. Headed For a Heartbreak?

**Noise and Kisses**

A/N: Wow! It looks like I really pissed off some people . (okay maybe just one person...) My deepest apologies to **Cloaked-Fox**. I didn't really mean to offend anyone with my remark about Iori's age/grade... I just didn't want to spend time trying to figure out how much younger he is than everyone else, etc, because he's obviously not going to be in high school with them, so he won't be part of the major plot. As to Taichi and Yamato fighting and Mimi being too "good" to visit them in the digital world... um yeah, well, you have to have some kind of plot, don't you? I mean, consider if my story started off the same way, except that Mimi came upstairs for dinner when her Dad called. They would all sit, eat, and be happy. No conflict there, huh? You can make conflict in your stories however you want - this is just how I chose to write mine. That's why it's _FANFICTION_. Because I'm the _FAN_ writing the _FICTION_ how **I** want to.

**Crescent-Wish-Forever** - Thanks for the reviews! I've already started the third chapter, and I'm trying to work on it at least once every day. Hopefully school won't get in the way when it starts!

**IzzyLovesMimi** - Koumi's cute, too! I used to be a huge Koumi fan... that was almost 5 years ago! woah! Probably my second favourite Mimi pairing though.

Anyways, back to the story.

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As the sun set in the clear summer sky, the partying at the Ishida place heightened. The backyard had been decorated by Sora and Yamato, and they had done an amazing job. There were patio lanterns hung up from the balcony along with a disco ball, and streamers tied to the trees. The only thing that had made the decor more magical was the fireflies that had been hovering around during the night. They had also set out a snack table stacked with chips, cookies, candies and a lare bowl of pink tropical punch to tide everyone over until dinner was served. Dinner consisted of hamburgers, grilled to perfection by Yamato, and was followed by ice cream cake decorated with the words, "Welcome Home, Mimi" in bright pink icing. The cake had dissapeared within ten minutes - Daisuke ate more than half of it. The rest of the night was spent dancing, talking, laughing, and just hanging out.

"Let's play charades!" Miyako suggested. A few groans followed and some cheering, and Miyako volunteered to go first. As she began her turn, she drew a square in the air, and Takeru called out, "TV show!". She nodded, and continued on, acting things out and showing them how many words were in the title. While the others were laughing and shouting out random things, Sora tapped Taichi on the shoulder and pointed to a raspberry bush in the far corner of Yamato's backyard.

"Meet me in five," she mouthed to him. He nodded in response as she got up and walked casually over to the raspberry bush, hoping no one noticed her absence.

"Friends!" Daisuke called out.

"The title has _four _words, you dumbass!" Takeru shouted, smacking the back of Daisuke's head.

"HEY!" hollered Daisuke, rubbing his head, "What was that for, TD?!"

Taichi grinned at their fighting, stood up and made his way to the raspberry bush. What an excellent diversion. When he reached the bush, he waltzed over to Sora and threw his arm around her, and then began munching on the delicious, ripe raspberries hidden in the depths of the bush.

"What's up?" he asked his girlfriend through a mouthful of raspberries.

"I wanted to ask you something," Sora replied, looking out at the night sky.

"Well, go ahead. Ask me anything."

"Okay then. What the hell is your problem?" demanded Sora. Taichi turned away from the raspberries to look up at his girlfriend's angry face.

"You heard me," she continued, "Why are you acting so ignorantly towards Mimi? I mean, Taichi, seriously - did you _see_ her at the airport? She was about to burst into tears! Are you _proud_ of that?"

"Well, no, but-" Taichi began.

"What has she ever done to you, Taichi?! C'mon, really, what has she done?"

Taichi sighed, knowing that even if he tried to answer her, the answer would never be the "right" one. There was no escaping this argument.

"Life was just a whole lot easier without _her _around," he muttered.

"Oh, I get it," Sora interjected, "you're _jealous_. Now that Mimi's around, you won't be able to have me all to yourself, huh? Is that it, Tai? You jealous that you gotta share me with my other friends? Is that why you and Yamato are always fighting - because he's a good friend of mine?"

"Me? Jealous?" Taichi scoffed.

"Oh, you deny it, but _I _know it's true, and that's all that matters," Sora snapped, "So I suggest you start watching your stupid attitude, or there may not be anymore _'us'_!"

Before Taichi could say anything more in his defense, Sora had stormed off to the punch bowl. Daisuke was standing near the punch bowl, holding something behind his back and whistling suspiciously. Sora ignored him and helped herself to a glass of the tropical (and likely, tainted) drink. Taichi watched her down the glass, growling and grumbling to himself. He punched the fence in anger, and watched as blood seeped from his fist. He looked back at the rest of his friends enjoying themselves once more before jumping the fence to go back home, where he could think.

"Where's Taichi?" Hikari asked Sora curiously.

"Who knows," Sora retorted, shrugging, "and who cares?"

"Um, shouldn't _you_ care?" responded Hikari. Sora laughed.

"Just because I'm his girlfriend doesn't mean I have an obligation to care about him!" she snorted. Hikari frowned at her, and retreated back to her spot in the grass next to Takeru. The game of charades had long since ended, and the party was beginning to die down as midnight neared. Guests were already starting to leave, and the backyard was becoming less and less populated. Jyou and Iori had left around nine-ish, both claiming they needed their rest for their early morning plans. Ken's parents had come to pick him up at eleven, and they had offered Miyako a ride as well.

Koushirou's father drove up and honked his horn a couple times. Koushirou signalled 'one minute' to his dad, and quickly asked the other guests if they cared for a ride home.

"Take me!" Sora burst out, stumbling into Koushirou's arms. Daisuke laughed wildly at Sora's drunken behaviour - she must have had a little too much punch.

"Anyone else?" Koushirou inquired on his way out, dragging Sora along. Everyone else shook their heads and bid them farewell. Koushirou helped Sora into his SUV and they drove off into the night sky, Koushirou shaking his head. He knew Sora would regret having all that punch the next morning.

The music was still pumping, though the guests were now few. Daisuke was in the Ishida's kitchen, calling Jun to come and pick him, Takeru and Hikari up. It didn't take long to convince her - she spent her days waiting for excuses like this to come up and allow her to visit Yamato. As she pulled up in the driveway, she ran up to the front door yelling, "Yaaaaaammaaaaa!" Yamato heard her from the backyard, and excused himself. He answered the door out of sheer courtesy, where he was greeted with girlish squeals and immediately engulfed in a huge bear hug.

"Uh, yeah, nice to see you, too," Yamato reassured her half-heartedly. Thankfully, Daisuke showed up with Hikari and Takeru in just the nick of time.

"Come on, come on, let's gooooooo!" Daisuke pleaded, attempting to pull his sister off of Yamato.

"You can come see Yamato some other time," suggested Hikari. Yamato looked at Taichi's younger sister in disbelief, and she giggled at his pained expression.

"Okay, okay.. we'll go. I'll see you later, Yama, love!" Jun exclaimed after she finally surrendered to the younger teens' pleading. She waved at him and grinned like an idiot as her brother dragged her into her vehicle.

"Drive," he commanded. She nodded, staring at Yamato who was still standing in the doorway, and pulled slowly out of the driveway. Yamato slammed the door, and walked back to his backyard to find Mimi dancing all by herself, and singing along to Ashlee Simpson's "Lala". He smiled to himself as he watched her from the doorway.

"Have a little too much to drink, Mimi?" Yamato chuckled. Mimi gasped and immediately stopped singing and dancing.

"I.. uh.. didn't realize you were there," Mimi stammered.

"Oh, don't stop just because I'm here," grinned Yamato, "I was quite entertained."

"Shut up, you!" Mimi giggled, turning down the stereo, "Let's get this place cleaned up."

The two teens slowly brought in half-full bowls of chips, a platter that used to be full of Sora's cookies that now held only a handful of leftovers, empty dishes where candies once were, and the large, empty punch bowl. After all that was brought in, they picked up any leftover garbage (mostly just plastic cups from the punch), then turned off the stereo and packed it up.

"Hey, where's my Dad?" Yamato wondered out loud, as he and Mimi finished cleaning up.

"Beats me," Mimi replied, "I haven't seen him or my aunt since we got here."

"Eh.. maybe they're upstairs," Yamato guessed, "Wanna go check?"

Mimi nodded, and followed Yamato up the winding staircase to the second floor. There were three rooms on the second floor; a bathroom, the master bedroom, and the guest room that Asuza was to be staying in. Yamato and Mimi checked the guest room first, but no one was there. The door to the bathroom was wide open, and a quick glance confirmed that there was no one residing within it. Yamato felt his heart plunge deep into his stomach. Could they really be in his father's bedroom... together? He gulped as he knocked quietly on the door. When no answer came, Yamato looked nervously at Mimi before slowly opening the door a crack. He peeked inside, spotting Asuza sleeping soundly under the sheets on the left hand side of his father's bed. He noticed there were clothes on the floor and his heart started beating faster; he spotted his dad, wearing only jeans, out on the balcony, puffing on a cigarette. Yamato quickly shut the door. They were _involved_? How come his father never mentioned anything to him? He was devastated.

"Let's go downstairs," Yamato advised, and Mimi followed him curiously as he traveled to the basement. They reached Yamato's room, where Mimi was to be sleeping; Yamato was going to sleep in the den for the night. Yamato sat down in his computer chair, and Mimi lay down on his bed. It was nearly one o'clock in the morning.

"Were they there Yamato?" What's goin' on?" Mimi asked politely. Yamato had only opened the door up enough for him to see in - Mimi hadn't seen anything. Yamato considered lying about what he saw, but knowing she'd see through his lies made him change his mind.

"Yeah, they were there," he mumbled, "Dad was on the balcony smoking... and your Aunt was passed out beneath his sheets."

"That's funny, why would she sleep in his bed when she has the guest room?" Mimi wondered.

"Mimi," Yamato sighed, " ... besides my Dad's jeans, all their clothes were on the floor."

"Oh!" Mimi gasped, "I didn't know they were ...uh... _seeing each other_?"

"Neither did I," muttered Yamato, looking down at his feet. Mimi frowned and looked at the clock. She was feeling pretty worn out from her flight and the off-the-hook party. Yamato looked up and glanced at the clock as well.

"I guess we should be heading to bed, huh? I mean, it's gonna be hard enough for you trying to adjust to the time change, and you're already off to a bad start, going to bed at one and all - and what with school only three days away.." Yamato rambled. Mimi smiled warmly.

"Okay, Dad, I'll go to bed!" Mimi joked, jumping under the covers in her clothes. Yamato smiled.

"You gonna sleep in your clothes?" he asked. Mimi nodded.

"Good night, Yamato! See ya in the morning!"

"Heh.. good night, Mimi. Don't let the bed bugs bite.. and all that," Yamato replied, as he stood up and walked out her door. Three more days. Just three more days.


	3. Lost and Found

**Noise and Kisses**

A/N: Chapter three, chapter three! Aren't you excited? I know I am! ... okay not _really_, but _somebody_ has to be excited! More notes to the reviewers!

**EUR3K4 **and **x1fernal** - I'm not telling what couplings are in this story =P Let's just say, expect the unexpected? Things may seem one way, and then suddenly change... maybe it's really a Jyoumi! haha... yeah I'm sure it is, seeing as Jyou is in this fic sooooo much! sorry I'm hyper... I was supposed to be in bed like three hours ago...

Anyways, as always, enjoy! I think this chapter's shorter than the others.

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Since the party took place, Mimi had moved in to her Aunt's place, gone back-to-school shopping with Sora, and picked up her school uniform, textbooks, and class schedule. Today was the first day of September, it was ten to nine, and Mimi had just arrived at school in her uniform, sporting a bright pink backpack. She found her T.A. in hallway C very easily, and picked up her lanyard, which was supposed to carry a Visual ID, but hers wasn't printed yet, so it carried nothing. When the bell rang, she was ready to take on the world - or at least take on her classes... if she could find them, that is. She had Science 20 first period (she took Science general because she hated Science too much to take anything specific), and second period she had Career and Life Management (CALM 20). After lunch she had Drama 20, followed by English 20-1. She had already found where the theatre was for Drama, but other than that she was completely lost. She stared blankly at her schedule, then looked to her school map, then back to her schedule. Room P013... P013. P013? P?! Was that a hallway?! She had seen A, B, C, and D hallways, but she had never seen a P!

"The P stands for portable," came a male voice, "you go out those doors in front of you, go down the stairs and into the second set of portables. P013 is the third room on the left."

Mimi jumped a little, then turned around swiftly to see who was guiding her. All she saw was Taichi walking away.

"Thank you, Tai!" she called after him. He didn't show any acknowledgement towards her and just kept on walking. Mimi stared in perplexion at the handsome boy walking away from her - if he didn't care about her, why did he help her? The thought dissapeared from her mind as she heard the late bell ringing, and she quickly dashed out to her Science class.

The morning passed by quickly, as most of class time was used for introductions and such. Mimi didn't know anyone in her Science class - all her friends were either a grade above or below her (except for Koushirou who had taken Chem, Bio and Physics separately - and was doing them all at the Advanced Placement level). Thankfully, her and Taichi were in CALM together; this boggled Mimi's mind, seeing as CALM was a 20 level course, but Taichi reluctantly explained how he skipped eighty percent of his CALM class the first time around. Finally, lunchtime rolled around and the friends were reunited for a full forty-five minutes.

Since the school was so large, there wasn't enough room in the cafeteria for all the students, so most of them ate in the hallways. The digidestined gang always sat beside the elevator in A hallway downstairs - it was their "spot". Lunch was half over by the time Mimi found her way to the elevator, and the rest of the group had already gathered and started eating and chatting about their mornings. Mimi sat down beside Yamato and took out her retro, pink My Little Pony lunchkit, causing Taichi to cough up a mouthful of chocolate milk.

"What are you, like, six?!" he laughed, "That's the geekiest lunchkit I've _ever_ seen!"

"No it isn't! It's totally retro chic!" Mimi squealed, "Besides, you shouldn't be talking Mr. Brown Paper Bag Lunch! I bet your Mom still writes little notes to you like she did back in elementary school!"

"Ohhhhhh, burn!" chorused a handful of the digidestined.

"Shut up!" Taichi burst out, blushing like mad, "She does not!"

"Let's see, Tai!" Yamato teased, grabbing at Taichi's lunch. Taichi reached for it at the same time, but the two ended up grabbing each others' hands, because Sora managed to snatch up the lunch bag before either of the two realized it. She opened it up and began displaying the contents to everyone.

"A banana, a yogurt tube," she started, as she pulled the items out one by one, "a granola bar, half a tuna sandwhich, and -" she paused for effect - "a note from his Mom." As she pulled out the note and waved it about, Taichi lunged at her in attempts of saving his rep, but Sora was too quick. She was an athlete, after all. She jumped out of the way while Taichi was in mid-lunge, causing him to fall flat on his face again. She stood up and placed a foot on his back to hold him down while she narrated the note.

"Taichi, have a great first day of school, sweetie! And please bring your dirty underwear into the laundry room after school - I'm doing a load of whites when I get home. Stay safe! Love, Mom." Sora removed her foot from Taichi's back as she fell to the floor laughing. Taichi sat up and dusted himself off, grumbling.

"Aww, isn't that sweet?" Yamato cooed, "Do you get notes from your mom, too, Hikari?"

"Nuh-uh," Hikari repsonded, "I get up early enough to make my own lunch. Unlike sleepy-head over there." Taichi shot her a look.

"Well, as entertaining as this is, I'm going to have to change the subject," Mimi interjected, pulling out the school newsletter, "because I read today in the newsletter that they're holding auditions for the school play next week. Anyone interested in auditioning with me?"

"What show are they doing?" Takeru asked,

"It's a musical," Mimi responded,"called _Little Shop Of Horrors_."

"Isn't that the show with the transvestite and the giant singing lips?" Daisuke asked, terrified. There was no way he was going to audition if it meant he had to dress in women's lingerie.

Mimi laughed, "No, no, no - that's _Rocky Horror Picture Show_! This is the one about the giant, talking plant."

"That's not much better," Daisuke sighed.

"Well," Hikari started, "I'd audition. Just for fun, I suppose. I mean, what can ya lose?"

"I'm in," Takeru agreed.

"Why don't we _all_ audition?" suggested Miyako, "Together! It'll be fun!"

"I don't know about that..." Koushirou persisted, "I mean, I'm not exactly the song-and-dance type, if you know what I mean."

"Don't be a poor sport, Izzy," Sora retorted, "I think it's a great idea. I've never been in a play before! I think it would be a cool new experience. Besides - there'll be smaller parts for us non-singing and dancing folk, right?"

Mimi nodded, "Of course. It would be so super if we all auditioned together! Are we all for it?"

Mimi threw her hand in the center of the group. Hikari placed hers on top of Mimi's , and Takeru placed his on top of Hikari's. Sora threw her hand in next, and Miyako put hers on top of Sora's. Daisuke paused for a second before throwing his hand into the center, too. Koushirou and Ken also hesitated before putting their hands in. Yamato threw his hand in, not wanting to be the last one to agree. This left only Taichi.

"Well?" Sora chirped, "Are you in or out, Tai?"

"I.. I'm," Taichi stammered as the bell rang, "I don't know."

"Make up your mind! I certainly do not wish to be late for class," complained Koushirou.

"I don't really want to..." Taichi fussed.

"Come on, man! We'll make a bet - whoever gets the bigger role wins. Loser buys winner's lunch for a week," Yamato challenged.

"You're on," Taichi declared, as he thrust his hand into the circle with a gleam in his eye. They all chuckled, and waited with their hands all grasping onto each others.

"Um.. this is the part where we all shout something - like a team name or something - and go down and then.. up... if that made any sense." Mimi mumbled, blushing. She wasn't very good at explaining things.

"Well, the show is called _Little Shop of Horrors_, so let's shout.. _Horrors_!" Miyako exclaimed. Everyone nodded in agreement, and Miyako counted them in.

"Horrors!" they shouted in unision, as they broke their circle of hands.

"Did someone just shout _whores_?!" exclaimed a teacher, poking his head out of his classroom.

"Run!" Daisuke whispered urgently, and they all quickly grabbed their lunches and went their seperate ways to their afternoon classes.

The rest of Mimi's day went by smoothly - Drama class was a breeze, and so was English. She bumped into Koushirou as she was leaving her Drama class, and he just happened to have English with her, so she didn't get lost trying to find her way to A204. She only hoped she would run into him like that everyday - that way, she would never get lost... at least not in the afternoon, anyways.

After school, the gang met up at the front enterance, and began to walk home together. As the others avidly discussed their first days, Taichi took out his discman, threw his headphones on, and pumped up the volume. He didn't feel like listening to all the trivial nonsense. The girls were the worst - especially Miyako, who was eagerly describing all of the cute guys in each of her classes. Taichi sighed as he trudged along beside Sora, who was happily conversing with Yamato. Hikari turned to her brother to ask him how his day was, but said nothing when she saw the earphones on his head. Glancing over at Sora, Hikari observed that her brother's girlfriend hadn't even noticed Taichi's anti-social behaviour. Maybe she really did mean what she said at the party? Maybe Sora really didn't care about Taichi. Hikari shook her head - How stupid of her to think such a thing! Of course Sora cared about Taichi! It was the alcohol speaking that night - not Sora.

"Kari, are you alright?" Takeru asked politely.

"Oh!" Hikari exclaimed, shaken out of her thoughts, "Of course! I'm fine." She smiled warmly at Takeru to reassure him.

"Alright, if you say so, Kari," replied Takeru with a smile.

"Hey!" interjected Daisuke, "What do you think you're doing smiling at my girl like that, TE?!"

Takeru and Hikari looked at each other and sighed - Daisuke was so hopeless.

"And then there's this kid, Vira, in my Info Pro class!" Miyako continued, still talking about all the potential bachelors she met, "He sits two computers down from me and... hey! Is anoyone listening to me?!" She looked around at her friends. Aside from Taichi, everyone else seemed to be in conversation already; Takeru, Daisuke and Hikari were arguing, Sora and Yamato were talking animatedly to one another, and Koushirou and Ken were discussing Trigonometry or something of the sorts. This left only one.

"Mimi?" Miyako perked up, "_Please_ say you were listening to me!" Mimi looked over at Miyako in a bit of a daze. It was almost as if she had just awoke from a dream.

"Hmm?" Mimi yawned, "What's that, Miyako?" Miyako hung her head and whimpered.

"You dissapoint me, Mimi," she sighed, just as they reached Daisuke's place. Daisuke's house was kind of like a central meeting place for the digidestined - once they reached his house, everyone split up and headed off in different directions. Taichi, Hikari and Takeru all headed right, Yamato, Mimi and Sora turned left, and Miyako, Koushirou and Ken kept walking straight.

Yamato and Sora continued their conversation as they continued their journey home alongside Mimi. Since she wasn't part of the conversation, Mimi revisited her thoughts from earlier that day - if Taichi didn't care about her, why did he help her? Mimi thought and thought, but couldn't come up with any logical explanations. Maybe he was just feeling helpful? Mimi sighed; she would probably never figure him out.

"Bye Mimi!" Sora called out, "Mimi? Mimi!"

"Huh?" Mimi answered. Suddenly realizing what was going on, she continued, "Oh! Bye Sora! See you tomorrow at school!" She waved to Sora as she dissapeared down the street.

"Daydreaming?" Yamato inquired casually once they were by themselves.

"No! I was just... uh... thinking about the play!" Mimi lied.

"You're really looking forward to it, huh?" Yamato replied. Mimi nodded in response. Her mom had taken her to a handful of productions while she was living in New York, causing Mimi to develop a bit of an obsession with drama and musical theatre.

"So, what did you say the show was about again?" Yamato asked.

"It's about a talking, man-eating plant," Mimi explained, "My mom was going to take me to _Little Shop_ in November, but since I'm here now, I guess I won't be seeing it. There's a movie, though, but I haven't seen it either"

"There's a movie? Hey, well, why don't we rent it? I could get my Dad to pick it up on his way home from work, and you could come over after dinner and we could watch it... together," Yamato suggested, his cheeks turning pink.

"Oh! Um.. I'd love to, Yama, but it's a school night... I don't know if my Aunt would let me."

"Tell her it's for school!" Yamato exclaimed, "I mean, it wouldn't be lying. It _is_ kind of for school, after all. Come on, Mimi! It'll be fun!"

"I dunno about this..." Mimi sighed.

"Come on, Mimi! You can't have _that _much homework on the first day, anyway! What _else _are you gonna do?!" pleaded Yamato.

"Alright, alright," Mimi finally gave in, "Let's do it!" Yamato grinned at her as they crossed streets.

"Well, this is my stop," Yamato piped up, "I'll call you when I finish dinner, alright?"

"Alright," Mimi echoed, "See you later, Matt!"

"Bye Mimi!" Yamato shouted to Mimi as he departed, leaving her alone with her thoughts. It had been a long day, and she had a lot to think about, but she couldn't help but be excited for tonight.


	4. A Short Trip to Insanity

**Noise and Kisses**

A/N: Dude I really need to get some sleep... not cool being up for four hours trying to write x.X Anyways, hope it's up to everyone's standards. I kinda didn't know what direction I was trying to go here!

**Crescent-Wish-Forever: **I was actually in a production of Little Shop of Horrors just last year! n.n That's how I came up with the idea for this fic (although I didn't have any romantic experiences through Little Shop whatsoever..grumble grumble) I played the third Shoo-Bop girl on the left! I had a solo! And I got to say "Here he is girls, the leader of the Plaque!" lol! And I own a pink My Little Pony lunch kit XD! Straight from the '80's, baby! I use it at school... makes people think I'm wierd, but that is OK with me lol

Anyways, onto the part you came for! I apologize beforehand for any typos. It's 1:33 am right now... and I am without a spell check lol

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Mimi stood patiently outside Yamato's house, waiting for someone to come answer the door. Her Aunt was sitting in her still running car in the Ishida's driveway - her and Hiroaki had spoken over the phone about Mimi and Yamato's movie meeting, and had decided to go watch a movie themselves. When Hiroaki finally answered the door, he flashed a smile at Asuza before ushering Mimi inside.

"Come on in, Mimi! Yamato's in the den downstairs setting up the DVD player. If you need anything from Asuza or myself, I have my cellphone with me - Yamato knows the number. You kids be good, alright? No foul play," he laughed, patting Mimi's head, "Nah, I'm just kidding. I trust you two. Have fun watching your movie!" With that, he dissapeard out the front door and into Asuza's car. The two waved as they drove away. Mimi closed the door and removed her boots. She had thrown on a pink tee that claimed 'Everyone Loves a LEO", and her white skirt before coming over. She walked downstairs to the den where she immediately spotted Yamato.

"Hey, Yamato," Mimi greeted the blonde-headed boy. He had changed out of his school uniform and put on some faded jeans with torn knees, and a tight black tee that read 'I'm with the band'.

"Oh, hey Mimi!" Yamato grinned sheepishly as he threw _Little Shop_ into his DVD player and sat down on the futon he had slept on the night Mimi stayed over. Mimi sat down right beside him and picked up the DVD case as Yamato fiddled with the controls.

"Rick Moranis is in this, eh?" Mimi observed as she read the back of the case, "And Steve Martin, too."

"Rick Moranis? The guy in _Honey I Shrunk The Kids_?" asked Yamato.

"Yup, that's the one," Mimi smiled.

"Ah, here we go!" Yamato announced, as he pressed the play button, "Let's watch this thing!" He turned off the lights as the movie began playing. The two teens sat in silence as the Star Wars-esque prologue began.

_**On the 23rd Day of the Month of September in an early year of a decade not too long before our own...**_

****Yamato felt something brush up against his leg. He looked down. It was Mimi's leg.

**_...the human race suddenly encountered a deadly threat to its very existence, and this terrifying enemy surfaced as such enemies often do in the seemingly most innocent and unlikely of places..._**

****The closeness of her body made him feel uncomfortable, and her sweet, flowery perfume was filling his lungs and causing his head to spin a little bit. He moved away from her and pressed his body against the arm of the chair. Mimi didn't notice, as she was too involved with the opening song being preformed by these three Shoo-Bop girls. Yamato was trying to focus on the film, but found his eyes wandering; his gaze always shifting from the screen, to his beautiful companion. He frowned at himself. He was so hopeless! Besides, his Dad and her Aunt were dating - Mimi was his potential _cousin_! He shook his head and tried desperately to keep his attention on the movie.

"Ooh! I could play her!" Mimi exclaimed as Audrey entered the scene. Yamato was stirred from his thoughts and looked up at the screen. He laughed when he saw the character Mimi was talking about. She was wearing extremely tacky clothing, and had bleach blonde hair.

"You could play any character you wanted to, Mimi," Yamato commented. Mimi flashed him a quick grin before turning back to the television. Yamato kept wrestling with his thoughts as the film kept rolling. Put your arm around her! No, don't! Yes, do it! No, what are you thinking?! He growled in frustration - why he couldn't he just watch the movie like a normal person?! He looked up at the screen.

**_Son be a dentist! You'll be a success!_**

Yamato laughed at Steve Martin dressed in tight jeans and a leather jacket. He was suprised that Steve actually had black hair in this film, unlike his normal white hair in everything else he was in. Yamato grinned.

"That's who I'm going to play," Yamato decided. He changed his mind as soon as he found out that he would be eaten a few scenes later. Being on stage for a handful of scenes was not a very big part... so if he wanted to win his bet with Taichi, he would have to go for the biggest role possible - Seymour. But then again, Yamato was confident that he could sing ten times better than Taichi anyways, so there was no way Tai could land a bigger role than him. He didn't have anything to worry about - Taichi would probably end up playing one of those bums whose only line is _"Then you go!" _in the second number. He smirked at the thought of Taichi paying for his lunch for a whole week. He would make sure to skip breakfast so he was extra hungry by the time lunch rolled around. Then he'd make Tai buy him outrageously priced meals from the cafeteria. Fries, pizza, salads, chocolate milk, muffins - it was pure genius! Yamato started laughing as he plotted crazy schemes in his head.

"Was the ending really that funny?" Mimi giggled, as she turned on the lights.

"Huh? What?" Yamato puzzled, "It's over?"

"Weren't you _watching_?" sighed Mimi.

"Kind of..." Yamato responded, "But it doesn't matter anyways - I've got it for a whole week. I have plenty of time to watch it again." Mimi shook her head - but she was smiling.

"Kids! We're home!" yelled Hiroaki from upstairs, "I'm coming down the stairs! Right now! I thought I'd warn you, in case you're doing something that you don't want me to see!"

"My Dad is so lame..." Yamato mumbled under his breath.

"Aha! I caught you!" Hiroaki exclaimed as he jumped around the corner, "Oh... I guess you weren't doing anything. How dissapointing."

"How embarassing," Yamato muttered.

"Well, anyways, Asuza's upstairs waiting for you, Mimi," said Hiroaki.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Ishida," Mimi responded, beaming.

"Anytime, Mimi. It's always a pleasure having you here," Hiroaki rattled on, "Yamato will see you to the door, of course, won't you, Matt?"

Yamato rolled his eyes, "Dad, Mimi already left."

"Oh!" marvelled Hiroaki, "Well, what are you waiting for, son?! Get up there and see her off! Don't forget to give her a kiss!"

"Whatever, Dad," Yamato retorted, hanging his head and heading upstairs to say goodnight to Mimi.

"No? No kiss? How about a hug?" his father called after him. Yamato sighed - his Dad just got wierder and wierder. As he reached the top steps, he saw that Mimi had already put her boots on and was ready to leave.

"Uh, goodnight Mimi," Yamato coughed.

"Goodnight, Yamato! Thanks for having me over!" Mimi piped up.

"Oh, yeah, uh, anytime!" Yamato replied. _How about a hug? _The words pounded in his head.

"See you at school tomorrow!" Mimi said as she turned and opened the door to leave.

"Mimi! Uh, wait," stuttered Yamato. Mimi looked back at the boy who was slowly approaching her. Now towering over her, he wrapped his arms around her waist, which took her by suprise, and gave her a quick squeeze.

"See you at school," he whispered as he let her go. Mimi blushed and ducked out the door, waving at him. She jumped into her Aunt's car, not knowing she had seen the whole thing through the open door.

"Oooh, looks like Mimi's got a boyfriend!" Asuza teased as she sped out of the Ishida's driveway and out into the street.

"We're just friends!" shouted Mimi in her defense.

"Just friends?" Asuza asked, "Then why are you blushing so much?"

"Shut up! I am not!" Mimi remarked. Asuza laughed at Mimi's frustration, but decided not to push it any further, which left Mimi to her thought. Maybe her Aunt was right. Did Yamato want more from her than just her frienship? And, more importantly, was she willing to give him what he wanted? Mimi's forehead wrinkled in perplexion, but, once again, she couldn't answer her own questions.

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Since school had only started Wednesday, they only had a three day week, and the last two days passed by as quickly as the first. It was now Saturday, and a handful of the original digidestined had decided to get together for lunch at a nearby restaurant. Sora, Taichi, Mimi, Yamato, Jyou and Koushirou were to be meeting in half an hour.

Jyou was the first to arrive, so he picked out a nice booth by a window where they could eat. Koushirou arrived next alongside Yamato. The two sat down and began reading over the menu, seeing what looked good - and whether or not they could afford it. Mimi and Sora showed up next, giggling as they enetered the restaurant, both in mini-skirts and flip-flops. Mimi felt a shock of discomfort when she found Yamato already seated with the two brainier kids. Jyou and Koushirou were sitting on one side of the booth, and Yamato was seated opposite them. When her eyes met his, she swore they were begging her to sit next to him. She looked away and waited for Sora to sit down first. Luckily, Sora sat happily beside Yamato, leaving space for Mimi beside her. Mimi took her seat beside Sora, relieved; she was secretly thanking Sora as the rest of them exchanged greetings. Sora and Mimi picked up their menus and looked over their meal options.

"What sounds better," Mimi asked, "Fettucine alfredo, or the Teriyaki Chicken bowl?"

"Fettucine," Sora replied, "That's what I'm having."

"I think I'm going to get the Philly Cheese Steak," Yamato decided.

"Prodigious choice, Matt," Koushirou added, "I'm going for the Clubhouse, though."

"That sounds good," Jyou commented as he read the description for the Clubhouse sandwich, "Maybe I'll get one of those... or a veggie burger!"

"Veggie burger!" Taichi scoffed as he sat down next to Koushirou.

"Oh, Tai! When did you get here?" Jyou inquired.

"Just now," Taichi replied, picking up a menu and quickly scanning it over, "and I'm ready to order!"

"You _just_ picked up your menu and you've already made a decision?!" Koushirou marvelled. Taichi nodded, "Hey, what can I say? I'm quick."

The teens continued discussing their lunch choices until a waitress finally walked over to their table, pencil and notepad in hand, ready to take orders.

"Hi, I'm Kakashi, and I'll be your waitress today. Can I start you out with some drinks?" She asked politely.

"I'll have a Coke," Taichi replied.

"Me too," Yamato chimed in.

"Make that three," Mimi added.

"Alright, three Cokes," Kakashi repeated, "And what can I get for the rest of you?"

"Oh I'll just have water," responded Jyou.

"And iced tea for me, thanks," Koushirou grinned.

"I'll have Sprite, please," Sora replied, "Oh, and would it be alright if we all ordered now?"

"Oh! Certainly, what would you like to order?" Kakashi articulated.

"Mimi and I will both be having the fettucine alfredo, he'll have the philly cheese steak," Sora said, jerking her thumb as Yamato.

"On brown bread," Yamato piped up.

"Jyou wants the veggie burger - no pickles, right?" When Jyou nodded, Sora continued, "And Izzy here wants the clubhouse sandwich, and Tai..." She trailed off. Taichi's order was the only one she hadn't caught.

"I'll have the lasagna," spoke Taichi.

"Okay, sounds super!" Kakashi said in an overly-cheerful tone, "I'll be back shortly with your drinks!"

"She's cute," drooled Koushirou, checking out her butt as she walked away.

The other burst out laughing; it was so unlike Koushirou to be checking out girls - except for on some websites he found on his laptop. They sat together, laughing and joking like old times, until their meals arrived. Then Jyou told them all about university while they all shoved their faces with food, and they, in turn, told Jyou all about the play.

"Mimi and I watched the movie together on Wednesday. I decided that I will, of course, play the lead role, Seymour. Either that or I'm gonna play the sadistic dentist!" Yamato proclaimed. Taichi glared at him as he continued munching on his lasagna.

"And I'm going to audition for Audrey!" exclaimed Mimi excitedly.

Taichi swallowed a mouthful of lasanga, and snorted, "What a perfect part for you, Mimi. You could totally play Audrey."

"You've seen _Little Shop_, Tai?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, I guess my Mom owns it, so when Hikari told her we were auditioning, she _insisted _ that we watch it with her." Taichi replied.

Mimi beamed, "Tai, do you really think that? That I would be perfect for Audrey?" She became so estatic when she heard him say that. Maybe Taichi was turning over a new leaf? Maybe things would go back to normal? Maybe -

"Oh, yeah, for sure!" Taichi repsonded in a mocking tone, "I mean, Audrey has absolutely no fashion sense, contrary to her belief, and she has an abnormally high, and not to mention, _annoying_, voice! I think it's a match made in heaven!" Mimi's expression changed drastically as her hopes were crushed by Taichi's words. Yamato's playful grin was soon replaced with a look of fury, as he stood up in his seat in outrage.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Yagami?!" Yamato spat.

"Sit down, Matt!" Sora hissed, yanking on Yamato's arm.

"Don't you tell me what to do, woman!" Yamato shouted, shaking Sora off of him.

"Listen to her, Matt!" Mimi cried, "It's not your fight! I don't need you to protect me!" Yamato stared at Mimi, a little shocked. He hesitated for a moment before sitting back down. He didn't speak another word for the rest of the meal.

"Well, um, I think I'll go now..." Mimi started as she placed a twenty on the table, "that's for my part of the meal. It was great seeing everyone. Um, I'll see you at school, then." Mimi stood up and walked out of the restaurant, staring down at her feet the entire way. Once she was out of sight and out of earshot, Sora began to bicker with Taichi.

"What the hell was that all about?!" she started in a hushed voice, "Did we not just talk about this like a week ago?!"

"You don't own me, Sora. I can say whatever the hell I want to say - and if it happens to be something rude, well, so be it! That girl needs to toughen up anyways," Taichi scoffed, "She always off _crying_."

"Yeah! She's crying because you're being such a huge asshole to her!" Yamato interjected.

"Shut up, Matt," Taichi said with a scowl, "Besides, why do you want me to be nice to her so badly, Sora? You're my girlfriend - shouldn't you be happy that I shun other women out of my life?"

"She's your _friend_, Tai. I don't want you to destroy your friendships. If the only reason you're acting like this towards her is to prove that you're faithful to me - then I think it's time we call it quits, Tai." stated Sora.

"What?!" thundered Taichi, "You can't be serious!"

"You heard me, Taichi Yagami. It'll be better off this way - I think everyone will be happier, including myself. So, as of this moment, you and I are _so _yesterday!"


	5. The Play's The Thing

**Noise and Kisses**

A/N: I'm sorry this chapter took me so long! I meant to finish it earlier, but I've been so un-inspired lately! It's probably not as good as it _could _have been. Oh well. Probably full of typos, too. I will fix those ASAP, I swear. Thanks to everyone who keep reviewing - they're the only things that keep me going!!

**CMangaFan** - Don't cry! I know Tai's not that mean! But you have to make some exceptions for fanfics, I suppose. Don't worry, he'll change his ways. I lurve Tai - he's the bestest character ever!

Again, MERCI BEAUCOUP to all mon petite reviewers - you are all tres, tres bien! J'AIME VOUS!

Oh yes, the songs used in this chapter are "Pretty Baby" by Vanessa Carlton, and "Your Body Is A Wonderland" by John Mayer. And the chapter title was admittedly taken from an episode of My Little Pony Tales... lol

... and now, onto CHAPTER 5 (dun dun DAH!)

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"Number fourteen!" called a short asian girl standing outside the theatre doors. She was wearing a cute green sundress over a pair of blue jeans, and had a head set attatched to her ear. Today was the first day of auditions for the play, and this girl's job was to usher pairs of students into the theatre, who would then perform a scene in front of the two drama teachers, Mrs. Hashiguchi, and Ms. Yuma. There was a table where you could pick up a number - that way you wouldn't be stuck waiting in a lineup for three hours - and then you would enter the green room where another crew member would hand you a script for a two-person scene corresponding to the genders of you and your partner. You could then go wherever you would like to practice with your partner until yours or your partner's number was called. When Mimi arrived, the rest of the gang had already gathered and picked up their numbers, so she picked up her own number - fifty-three. She was going to be waiting for a very long time.

"Hey, Mimi! You made it!" Yamato exclaimed, "Wanna be my part-" Before Yamato could finish his sentence, Jun Motomiya ran up behind him and pounced on his back.

"Oh, Yamato! I didn't know you were auditioning for the play, too!" she cried in a sing-song voice, "We _have _ to be partners!"

"But I-" Yamato began to protest.

"I _insist_!" exclaimed Jun as she dragged him away into the green room to fetch a script. Mimi felt a little guilty for not saying anything in Yamato's defense, but ultimately, she was grateful that Jun had removed Yamato from the situation. Mimi had planned to ask Taichi to audition with her, even if he just yelled at her for asking. For some reason, she wanted to keep trying with him, because somehow she knew there was a more complicated reason for his behaviour, and she wanted to find out what that was so she could finally set things straight. So, she walked casually up to Taichi, whose number, thirty-one, was hanging from his neck, and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Taichi!" she said cheerfully, "I don't have a partner yet - maybe we could audition together?"

"Together? As in you.. and me?" he replied, "That's a laugh! I already have a partner - I'm going with Sora, obviously!"

"Oh," Mimi sighed, "I guess I should have expected that. Oh well, good luck." Mimi left his side in search of another partner. She spotted Takeru and Hikari down the hallway, practicing their scene together, and Miyako and Ken a few lockers down from them, also practicing. Who did that leave? Well, if Sora was with Taichi, then she had two options left - Koushirou and Daisuke. She ran into Daisuke first, who was buying some soda from the vending machine. He had number fourty draped around his neck. He turned around with his ice cold 7up, to find himself face to face with Mimi.

"Oh, hey Mimi!" Daisuke smiled, twisting the cap off his beverage.

"Hello, Daisuke," Mimi greeted him.

"Oh! Mimi! Please tell me you don't have a partner yet!" Daisuke exclaimed, suddenly remembering the auditions.

"I don't have a partner yet," she reassured him.

"Super! Awesome! Excellent!" he spluttered, "Then you can be my partner!"

"Sounds good," Mimi grinned, "Why didn't you ask Kari though?"

"I did ask her, but she wanted to go with TX! I don't get it - what he's got that I don't? Besides that ugly bucket hat."

Mimi couldn't help but giggle at Daisuke's frustration, before suggesting they go pick up their scripts. Daisuke agreed as he sipped his 7up, and the two headed back to the green room to pick up their scripts.

"One guy, one girl?" asked the crew member in charge of scripts, to which Mimi nodded in response. He handed them two copies of a scene between Audrey and Seymour, and they exited the room to go practice in the hallways, where they bumped into Sora and Koushirou.

"Hey! What are you two up to?" Mimi probed, "Shouldn't you be practicing with your partners?"

"We _are_!" Sora explained, "Koushirou and I are auditioning together!"

"What?" said Mimi, puzzled, "I thought you were going with Taichi?"

Sora laughed, "Is that what _he _told you?! The poor kid - he's never gonna get over our break up!"

"You two broke up?!"

"Oh, that's right - you weren't there for the 'big event'. Yeah, we broke up on Saturday after you left the restaurant," stated Sora, "I'd love to indulge into all the little details, but Koushirou and I are up pretty soon. They just called number twenty, and I'm number twenty-two, so we've gotta run through our lines a few more times. See you later!" With that, Sora and Koushirou rushed into the green room to practice a little bit more before their audition, while Daisuke and Mimi headed in the opposite direction to do the same.

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"Group two!" shouted the same short asian girl from yesterday, sporting the same headset. Yesterday's acting auditions had gone smoothly, and today was the dancing auditions. The students had been split into five groups and each were taught the same dance, choreographed by the short asian girl. When their group number was called, they were expected to perform the dance with the group, followed by a minute and a half of free style dancing. Sora, Koushirou and Ken were in group two. As their friends all wished them good luck, they nervously shuffled into the theatre to dance their hearts out. As they were inside auditioning, Mimi and the others continued to go over the dance steps.

"Alright, guys, let's do this!" Hikari announced to the group before counting them in. She was by far the best dancer out of the lot of them, so she took her position in the front of the group and tried to walk them through the routine.

"Grapevine left, punch - one, two! Shimmy, shimmy, and kick, down, back, lean front, two toe-touches right, roll it off the stomach, back to center, and pose!" she instructed as they danced in time, "Okay, good job guys! Shall we do it again?"

"This sucks," Taichi muttered, "I'm the worst dancer ever!"

"Don't worry, Taichi! For the most part, the male roles don't really need to know how to dance. It's mostly just the Shoo-Bop girls that will have to do these kind of routines," Mimi reassured him kindly. Taichi didn't respond.

"Why is she still trying to get all friendly with me? Has she completely forgotten what's happened every other time she's tried? Seriously, has that girl not yet realized that I'm not a friendly person?" Taichi thought to himself as Hikari forced them all to run through the routine once more. He stumbled over his feet and crashed into Mimi, causing the two to fall over onto the carpet, Taichi landing on top of Mimi. Yamato spun around just in time to witness the fall, preparing himself for another arguement.

"Oh! Uh.. I... that is, I-I'm," Taichi stuttered as he tried to pick himself up off of the gorgeous girl with as much grace as possible. His cheeks were tinged a dark red; he wished he had some excuse to just run. Luckily for him, the asian girl with the headset yelled out, "Group three!", which was his group. He ran off into the theatre, followed by Yamato and Takeru. Daisuke, Miyako and Hikari soon followed in the fourth group, and finally Mimi and Jun got their chance to audition when the fifth group was called.

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"Number twenty-two!" yelled the short, asian girl. It was the third day of auditions, and she was wondering why she volunteered to be stage manager. Today's task was to sing part of a song for the two drama teachers, and also perform 'Happy Birthday' if they asked it of you. It was Sora's turn to audition, as she was number twenty-two, and she headed inside the theatre nervously to perform her song. Mimi was down the hallway in the girl's washroom with Miyako where they were downing large portions of honey. Mimi heard it was good for the vocal chords, so she stole a jar of honey from her Aunt's cupboard and took it to school with her. When they had each had at least two tablespoons of honey, they regrouped with the others (besides Sora) and they all did singing warm-ups together. Sora came back out shortly after she had been called in.

"Well?" asked Miyako, "How did it go?"

"It was really easy," Sora reassured her, "No sweat! ...Okay, I lied; it was super tough having to sing in front of people, but I think I did an alright job! Ugh, I guess we'll find out when call-backs are posted tomorrow, right?"

"You're done already?" Koushirou inquired, with a look of dread on his face, "That means I'm up soon..."

"You'll do just fine, Iz," comforted Miyako.

Meanwhile, Taichi had wandered off down the hallways. He wanted to find a quiet spot where he could practice his audition piece, in hopes of perfecting it last minute. He found an empty corridor, with a large window overlooking the schoolyard. As he stood, leaning on the windowsill, he gazed upon the empty field as he sang.

"_We've got the afternoon. You got this room for two. One thing I've left to do. Discover me, discovering you. One mile to every inch of your skin like porcelain. One pair of candy lips and your bubblegum tongue_-"

His wandering voice was answered by the sound of another voice, accompanied by strumming. As the sound of an acoutsic guitar drifted down the supposedly empty hallway, Taichi strained his ear to listen in, and suprisingly, heard a very familiar voice singing.

"_And if you want love, we'll make it. Swimming a deep sea of blankets. Take all your big plans, and break e'm. This is bound to be a while_," the voice sang, "_Your body is a wonderland. Your body is a wonder, I'll use my hands, your body is a wonderland..._"

Suddenly the strumming stopped, and the voice was now laughing.

"Yamato, you jerk!" Taichi groaned, as his blonde-haired friend walked towards him, acoustic in hand.

"Good luck with the audition, Taichi!" Yamato called to him, "I'm going in for mine right now. Too bad we're auditioning the same song!"

He snickered as he drifted out of view.

"That asshole's sure in a good frickin' mood," Taichi grumbled, "He thinks he's soooo goddamn amazing just because he's in a stupid band. Bastard."

"Taichi!" shouted a female voice, the sound of feet running toward him becoming more and more apparent. As the figure came into view, Taichi saw, to his dismay, that the voice belonged to Mimi.

"Taichi, Taichi, your number is almost up!" Mimi exclaimed.

"Oh, uh... thanks," mumbled Taichi, looking away from her, "What number are they on?"

"Yamato just went in, so twenty-seven. You're number thirty, aren't you?" Mimi responded.

"Thirty-one," Taichi informed her.

"Oh, good! Well, if you have a couple of minutes - would you listen to my audition piece, Taichi?"

Taichi stared at her in disbelief, but agreed to listen to her sing anyways.

"_You light me up and then I fall for you. You lay me down and then I call for you. Stumbling on reasons that are far and few - I'd let it all come down and then some for you_," Mimi began to sing, "_Pretty baby don't you leave me, I have been saving smiles for you. Pretty baby, why can't you see? You're the one that I belong to. I'lll be the embrace that keeps you warm, for you're the sun that breaks the storm. I'll be alright, and I'll sleep tight, as long as you keep coming round_."

Taichi found himself entranced by the sound of Mimi's voice. He smiled softly to himself as he listened to her song.

"_Why can't you hold me and never let go? When you touch me it is me that you own_," Mimi continued, "_Pretty baby. Oh the place that you hold in my heart - would you break it apart? Again.._"

Taichi had never heard the song before, but he was certain that Mimi probably sang it better than the original version itself.

"Well, Taichi?" asked Mimi as she finished singing, "What do you think?"

"I think that.." Taichi paused as he considered actually complimenting her, "I think that I need to get back to the theatre. I don't wanna miss my turn!" With that, Taichi ran off through the corridors, making his way back to the theatre. That was a close one.

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After an exhausting three days of auditions, plus one day for call-backs (which they had, suprisingly, all made), it was time to check out who was to be playing who. Mrs. Hashiguchi had posted the list on the Drama News Bulletin before school had started. When the digidestined arrived at school, they all rushed eagerly to the bulletin board, where Sora narrated the list for everyone to hear.

"Here we are, ladies and gentleman - this is it!" Sora exclaimed, "The casting for _Little Shop of Horrors_ is as follows: Audrey will be played by... Mimi Tachikawa!"

"Really?!" Mimi cried, "I can't believe it!"

"I tolld you you were perfect for Audrey," Taichi remarked.

"Congrats, Mimi!" Sora shouted, before continuing, "Bernstein is Kairi Okayasu... Chiffon, the Shoo-Bop girl is Hikari Yagami! Good job, Kari! And I'm playing Crystal, another Shoo-Bop girl!"

"Whoo! We made it!" Hikari shrieked.

"Okay, okay, TK, you're playing Customer number one!" Sora went on.

"Oh, huzzah," Takeru said sarcastically.

"Customer number two is Sae Kisagari, Customer number three is Tohru Honda... Jun Motomiya is the interviewer!"

"Yay! I hope Yama-kun makes it! It would be so great to see him at rehearsals every night!" Jun fantasized, "Not to mention, romantic..." Yamato edged casually away from Jun.

"Miyako Inoue is Mrs. Luce!"

"Oh, goody! She has her own solo!" Miyako announced.

"Mushnik is David Van Handerhoff, Orin Scrivello, the dentist, is Yamato Ishida!"

"Score!" Yamato rejoiced, "I'm eating lobster for a week if you don't make the cut, Tai!"

"Patrick is played by Hatsuharu Sohma, the Plant Body is Michiru Hatomaya, and Daisuke Motomiya is playing the part of the Plant Voice!"

"Feed me, Seymour!" chuckled Daisuke.

"Ronette, the third Shoo-Bop Girl, is Akane Tendo. Seymour Krelbourne will be played by... Taichi Yagami,"

"How in the hell?!" Yamato screeched.

"Boo ya!" howled Taichi, "In your face, Matt! Looks like I'll be the one eating lobster for the week!"

"Shut up, you two, I'm not done!" Sora hissed, "Ken Ichijouji, you're playing Skip Snip! Megumi Ayanamei, Aeka Hamatoyoshi, Koushioru Izumi, Musashi Semoharu and Kojiro Totoyama are all playing winos!"

"What's a wino?" Daisuke inquired.

"A hobo," Koushirou sighed.

"Hahahahaha! Izzy's playing a bum!" Daisuke laughed.

After school that day, they all attended their very first official _Little Shop _meeting, where they were given scripts and introduced to their choreographer and singing instructor. They played some orientation games to get to know each other, and they were told to review their scripts, as they would be doing a complete read-through on the following Monday, after the weekend. When they were dismissed, the teens walked home together, as usual. It was a Friday night, but none of them felt particularily inclined to doing anything as they were all quite wiped out from the long week. They agreed to celebrate their success the next day. Taichi and Yamato were mid-arguement when they reached Daisuke's house, where they all split up.

"Looking forward to all the great, free meals I'll be having next week!" Taichi called to Yamato, as they parted their seperate ways.

"Looking forward to watching your reaction when Mrs. Hashiguchi tells you that she is, in fact, having Seymour and Audrey kiss! Page fifty-five, Taichi! Read it and weep!" Yamato yelled back at Taichi as he dissapeared off in the distance.

Taichi threw open his backpack and tore out his script, flipping madly through the pages. Page fifty-five, page fifty-five, page fifty-five - there it was! Yamato was right (as usual) - right at the conclusion of '_Suddenly Seymour_' there was a big, fat, kissing scene.

"Damn."


	6. Show Me The Love

**Noise and Kisses**

A/N: Oh my good Lord it has been probably a year since I've posted a new chapter of this baby - and I feel HORRIBLE about it! I promised myself I wouldn't leave this story unfinished - so I'm going to try my hardest to get an ending out to you lovely readers, hopefully sooner than later. I've had half of this chapter finished for about a year now, and had stopped around the part where Mimi and Yamato are alone at the park. I was taking it in a direction I didn't like, but I didn't know how to change, so I left it alone for awhile. FINALLY, this week, I realized how I could change this story and get it back on track, so I began writing again. I'm pretty satisfied with it now, so I'll probably be writing more often now.

And now, without further adieu, the long-awaited Chapter 6. (and if you're anything like me, you'll have forgotten what the rest of the chapters are about by now)

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"To us!" Miyako proposed, holding up her soda glass. As the other lifted theirs, too, they all clinked their glasses together in a toast, cheering. Sitting out on the balcony at a local cafe, sharing sodas on a Saturday afternoon, was a perfect way for the gang to celebrate their success in making it into the play. Even Jyou and Iori had come along to congratulate their friends.

"So, when's the show, then?" asked Jyou.

"Our first performance, not including the student matinees, is on February the twenty-fourth," Sora stated, matter-of-factly.

"How did you find that out?" Mimi inquired between sips of soda.

"I asked Mrs. Hashiguchi before I auditioned," Sora replied.

"Oh, it's _so_ exciting!" exclaimed Miyako, "Especially because Kairi Okayasu is in it! He's so dreamy..."

Hikari giggled; Miyako had such a terrible obsession with boys. It seemed like she was infatuated with every male she'd ever met.

"Hey! Just outta curiosity, what did everyone sing for their auditions? I did _Just a Gigolo _- you know the one," Daisuke burst out, before he began crooning, "_Just a gigolo and everywhere I go - people know the part I'm playing! Paid for every dance, selling each romance - every night some heart betraying_!"

Chuckling, Hikari responded, "I can't believe they _let_ you sing that!"

"Well, I stayed in my comfort zone and went with a classic Disney tune," Koushirou explained, "I sang... _A Whole New World_."

"Are you serious!" cried Sora, "That is so not you!" Koushirou just shrugged.

"Well... everyone always sings it on 'American Idol'. Besides, it got me the part, didn't it?" he retorted, "What did _you_ sing?"

"I got all funky and did some Maroon 5. _This Love_, y'know?" replied Sora.

"Hikari and I both did a little West Side Story number known as _I Feel Pretty_," Miyako informed them, "We worked on it together. We even had choreography just for the hell of it." Hikari stood up and showed them an example of said 'choreography', as on-lookers errupted with laughter.

"I did a Vanessa Carlton song," Mimi added in.

"Ken and I decided to take the safe route and do Beatles songs. I did _Can't Buy Me Love_, and Ken did..."

"_Eight Days a Week_," Ken reported, finishing Takeru's sentence.

"Nice!" Daisuke piped up, "What about you Tai? And Matt - what did you sing?"

"_Your Body Is a Wonderland_," they both grumbled in response.

"Oh! Did you guys work on it together like Miyako and I did?" Hikari questioned.

"No. Matt just thought it would be cool for him to sing the same song as me, being the cocky bastard he is, so that he would surely have a better shot at getting the lead. Not to mention the free lunches," Taichi spat, then changed his tone as he added, "But I guess his plan backfired, 'cause it looks like I won't be spending a penny this week!"

"Shut it, will ya, Tai?" Yamato retorted, "Can't we go anywhere without you starting a fight? It's getting really old, really fast, man. What happened to my old best friend? Remember that happy-go-lucky guy with a grin as wide as his face? I miss him, dude, and I'm willing to bet that you miss him too."

"Oh, quit being so sentimental," Taichi rolled his eyes, "And forget the "Old Tai", 'cause as long as _she's _around, he won't be."

"Now, now. Her name is _Mimi_," Yamato quoted, quirking an eyebrow at Sora, as if instructing her to play along. Sora understood what he was trying to achieve.

"Now why does that sound familiar...?" Sora asked in a tone of false curiosity, looking intentively to Yamato. Yamato gave Sora a smirk before answering her "question".

"Hmm, I don't know, Sora! Why don't we ask _Tai_?" Yamato finished sharply, turning his glance swiftly upon his bushy-haired friend. Taichi sat in silence, glaring at the empty glass sitting in front of him

"Well?" Sora asked impatiently, rapping her fingers on the table.

"Why do you guys always stick up for _her_ - f-for _Mimi_?" Taichi stuttered, looking down at his hands, "I have feelings, too, you know. It's like you all just think I'm mean to her because I want to be - because I _can_ be. Do you ever stop and think maybe there's something bothering _me_?"

"I do," whispered Mimi. Glancing over at Mimi, Yamato wondered why she was always trying to be so nice to Taichi, when he did nothing to deserve her kindness? Yamato sighed; she was so sweet.

"Nobody was talking to _you_," retorted Taichi. Yamato shot him an icy glare.

"You know what, Tai? I was just about to act like I cared and ask you what's bothering you - until you said that," Yamato declared, his eyes piercing Taichi like daggers, "I'm sure you wouldn't have told me anyways. Mimi, let's get out of here." Yamato grabbed Mimi by the arm, and pulled her up as he stood. Mimi found herself being dragged out of the cafe against her own will, but said nothing as she left her friends behind.

Yamato stormed down the street, Mimi in tow behind him. He spoke not a word, and Mimi dared not say anything either, for fear she may upset him. They spent at least ten minutes pushing their way through crowded sidewalk after crowded sidewalk before they found themselves in front of a small park. Yamato sat himself down on a bench within the small park, and Mimi sat down as well - but leaving quite a bit of space between them. Yamato grumbled to himself and sighed many times before his nerves finally calmed down enough for him to talk.

"I'm sorry I dragged you down here. I guess I went on a bit of a rampage, huh?" Yamato sighed, "I just couldn't handle being around him any longer, and I guess I thought..." He trailed off, as he stared blankly out at the cloud-filled sky.

"You thought what?" Mimi asked innocently, cupping her face in her hands, and resting her elbows on her knees.

"I thought that, without me there, there'd be no one to protect you from his ridicule..." Yamato finished his thought, "I guess that's why I took you with me. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"Well, you know, you're going to have to stop protecting me sooner or later, Matt," Mimi said, speaking softly to the young blonde as her eyes wandered upon his perfectly styled hair, "I'm a lot older now, you know. We all are. It's about time I started sticking up for myself. Besides, I.. uh.. I don't think you're helping the situation much. It seems that you sticking up for me just makes Tai that much more upset."

"I know," Yamato grumbled. He shifted his gaze from the sky, to the pink-haired teen, a frown crossing his face, "but he's acting like such a jerk. I don't know what's gotten into him! He's like a completely different person."

"And I think that attitude isn't going to help anything, Yama. Taichi feels like it's all of us against him. You're his best friend, and you're siding with me on everything. Maybe he is wrong in how he's acting, but no one's even tried to take his side during any of these arguments we get into besides me, and I don't count. Somebody needs to show him that we're not all angry with him. Someone he'll listen to,"

"Who, like, Sora?"

"No, not like Sora," Mimi sighed, rolling her eyes, "Like _you_."

Yamato just stared at Mimi, not knowing what to say. What gorgeous eyes, he thought, and such delicate skin. Oh, how he wished to reach out and touch her arm. He wanted to know whether her skin really was as smooth as it seemed. Yamato shook his head; he was dazing off again. He hated it when he did that.

"Look, Mimi, it's a touching thought, but I don't think Tai's gonna listen to anything I have to say to him right now,"

"It all depends on how you say things, Yama," Mimi assured him, "Go to him with an open mind. Don't raise your voice - try and see things from his perspective. You'll see. He needs somebody to let him know we still care, despite his behaviour."

"Mimi, you sound like a goddamn psychiatrist," Yamato groaned.

"Well, I did take a Psychology course last year!"

Yamato grinned. Despite all his stress and the feeling that the world was falling apart around him, he still found reasons to smile. It did really sound like Mimi knew what she was talking about. Maybe he would take her advice - eventually. For now, he thought the best action for him to take was to protect.

"Come here, you," Yamato said with a wink. He wrapped his arms around Mimi, and rubbed her hair playfully, grinning as wide as he could.

_That's where you ought to always be, _Yamato thought, _right here in my arms, where I can keep my eyes on you._

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"Alright, Shoo-bops, Mushnik - you guys head to the green room and run over the dance for "You Never Know", okay? Mushnik, you can cover Seymour's parts for the time being!" Ms. Hashiguchi shouted instructions left and right, "Winos, Customers, Dentist and Plant Voice, you're done for the night, you can all go home! Seymour, and Audrey, we need you over at the piano to run through "Suddenly Seymour"! Chop, chop, everyone! We have no time to waste!"

Students rushed every which way as they attempted to organize themselves. Hikari, who had been named dance captain, had already begun going over dance instructions with Sora and Akane as they made their way to the green room. David Van Handerhoff, (or just 'Mushnik', as most the cast reffered to him) started running scales, warming up his voice as he travelled across the theatre and into the green room. Yamato picked up his backpack and sprinted towards the door without a word, trying desperately to avoid Jun so he wouldn't have to give her a ride home. Daisuke, Takeru and Ken could be heard discussing whether or not to head to CB's Drive-In as they made their way out of the theatre. Soon the theatre had cleared, leaving only Ms. Hashiguchi, Ms. Perry, the singing teacher, Mimi and Taichi.

"Alright, let's get straight to business, shall we?" Ms. Hashiguchi began, "Here's the thing, boys and girls... err, boy... and girl.. whatever. The thing is... I'm not feeling it."

"Not feeling.. what?" Mimi asked, confused.

"This. This scene. I'm not feeling the scene. I'm not feeling the.. the.. I'm not feeling the love, okay? It's just.. well, we've been working on this scene for over a month now, you would THINK that you kids would have some chemistry by now, but I've got nothing - absolutely nothing - from you two. I can feel more chemistry between you two right now just STANDING there than I do when you're on stage together."

Taichi glanced at Mimi quickly, wondering if she felt as awkward as he did after that chemistry comment. She appeard to be handling all Ms. Hashiguchi's comments pretty well, though, so he looked away, and tried to act normal. He felt a tiny bead of sweat roll down his forehead. He hated this scene with a passion, and yet it was the one scene they were forced to work on the most. Probably because Ms. Hashiguchi couldn't "feel it" yet. God. He'd rather be practicing being eaten by the Plant.

"This is supposed to be a touching scene, people. You're in love, okay? You always have been, secretly, but you've never been able to show it until now, alright? This has to be bursting with romantic energy! The embrace! The embrace has to be sweet, and tender - but at the same time so passionate! And the kiss! The kiss has to be.. it has to be PERFECT! The audience has to feel this! You have to give them goosebumps! Don't make me regret my casting, you two. Show me the love. Show me the love!"

Mimi and Taichi stood still, neither of them making a move. Neither one of them had any clue what to do or say.

"Well, don't just stand there - _show me the love!_" Ms. Hashiguchi screeched, "Get in your places!"

Taichi hurredly moved into his beginning position stage right. Mimi scurried to her spot beside him, and Ms. Perry struck a chord on the piano to signal Tai.

"_Lift up yer head, wash off your mascara. Here take my Kleenex, wipe that lipstick away,_" Taichi sang, handing the now-crying Mimi a tissue. He lifted her chin with his hand, "_Show me yer face, clean as the morning. I know things were bad but now they're okay._"

He turned to the audience, or in this instance, Ms. Hashiguchi, "_Suddenly Seymour is standing beside you! You don't need no make-up! Don't have to pretend! Suddenly Seymour is here to provide you - Sweet understanding.. Seymour's your friend_."

He turned back to Mimi, who looked to the audience and began tearfully singing in her fake New York accent, "_Nobody ever treated me kindly - Daddy left early, Mama was poor. I'd meet a man and I'd follow him blindly - he'd snap his fingers, me... I'd say _'sure'."

She smiled and faced Taichi as she sang, "_Suddenly Seymour is standing beside me. He don't give me orders! He don't condescend! Suddenly Seymour is here to provide me - Sweet understanding... Seymour's my friend_."

"Oh, make us believe he's more than your friend!" Ms. Hashiguchi called out.

"_Tell me this feeling will last 'till forever - tell me the bad times are clean washed away!_" Tai sang whole-heartedly, as he swung from the staircase the techies built for the set.

"_Please understand that it's still strange and frightening - for losers like I've been, it's so hard to say!_" Mimi answered him, "_Suddenly Seymour!_"

"_Suddenly Seymour!_" Taichi echoed.

"_He purified me!_"

"_He purified you!_"

"_Suddenly Seymour!_"

"_Suddenly Seymour!_"

"_Showed me I can!_" Mimi belted out, filling the stage with sound.

"_Yes, you can!_" Taichi answered, their voices melting smoothly into one, as they sang in unision, "_Learn how to be more!_"

"_The girl that's inside me," _Mimi sang softly.

And they finished together, singing, "_Sweet understanding - Seymour's your man!_"

As their final note rang through the theatre, Ms. Hashiguchi jumped with excitement, shouting, "Kiss her! Kiss her now!"

Taichi wrapped his arms around Mimi, and slowly dipped her as he gave her the softest, sweetest kiss, in his opinion, that he had ever kissed in his entire life.

"Oh, that was _perfect_, that was absolutely perfect!" Ms. Hashiguchi exclaimed as she wiped a tear from her eye, "Oh, I knew I cast this show perfectly! It was wonderful! It was fabulous! Why is it not like this everytime!"

Taichi let go of Mimi as their lips parted, and swiftly moved away from her as he came back to reality. Mimi stumbled backwards, but caught herself before she fell. She sat down on the edge of the stage.

"No, really," Ms. Hashiguchu mused, her mood suddenly taking a turn for the worse, "why ISN'T this scene like this everytime we rehearse it? It was beautiful this time, you two. It was absolutely breathtaking. But that's the first time I've felt that out of all the million times we've rehearsed it. I don't understand - why was it so different this time?"

Mimi looked down at her feet. Really, she didn't change her performance at all, but she knew Ms. Hashiguchi was right - there was definitely something different about this time. Something almost magical. Taichi, meanwhile, stared at the theatre ceiling. He hated Ms. Hashiguchi for expecting them to answer her ridiculous questions. He just wanted to go home.

"Well? Is no one going to answer me? Hello? Is there something so interesting about the floor that's keeping you from giving me a valid response, Ms. Tachikawa?" Ms. Hashiguchi demanded.

Mimi looked up at Ms. Hashiguchi, a pink shade crossing her face in embarassment. Still, she said nothing.

"And you, Mr. Yagami? Is the ceiling that important that you feel the need to ignore me?"

Taichi, unlike Mimi, kept his gaze aimed at the ceiling, refusing to pay any notice to Ms. Hashiguchi. Wasn't it good enough for her that they did it right this time? That she "felt" it? Was that not enough for her?

_God_, Taichi thought,_ just give me the goddamn praise I deserve and let me get out of this hellhole._

Ms. Hashiguchi looked to Ms. Perry, "Lord, these two are quiet - aren't they quiet, Pat?"

Ms. Perry nodded, "Just shy, I presume."

"Oh, so that's it," Ms. Hashiguchi exclaimed, "you're _shy_. So, you can't kiss and act like your in love in front of the rest of the cast because you're _shy_, huh? Well, bad news for you two - you're going to have to do it in front of a live audience - and even your parents - so you might as well get used to it now. Tomorrow, I'm going to have the entire cast sit in here for this scene. That should help you get over you little shyness problem."

Taichi bit his tongue. That was so goddam unfair of her. He fumed, hating her more than ever. Why on earth had he even tried out for this thing in the first place? Oh yeah, he sighed as he remembered - it was Mimi's suggestion. And Yamato's stupid bet. _That stupid jerk, Yamato_, Taichi thought, _he knows I can't turn down a bet._

"Well, I suppose you two are done for the night. We made some good process today - don't forget what that kiss looked and felt like tomorrow, or I'll be making you spend your lunch hours practicing, too," Ms. Hashiguchi threatened, "Pat - er, Ms. Perry, will you please ask Mushnik and those Shoo-Bop girls to get in here? I'd like to see how their dance is coming along."

"Of course," Ms. Perry responded, then headed for the green room.


	7. Believe This

**Noise and Kisses**

A/N: Now I'm getting back into the swing of things. Here we go, another chapter folks. One minor note for those who don't live in Canada, because I think your high school classes are different than ours. Anyways, I mention Math 13 in this Chapter, and basically that's the lowest level of Grade 10 math you can take - here we have Pure Math 10 AP (Advanced Placement), which you have to apply for because it's for geniuses, basically, Pure Math 10, which is for those of higher intelligence, but not geniuses, Applied Math 10, which is for pretty much average students, and Math 13, which is for less-than-average students. w00t. Now that we've got that straightened out, here's my next chapter, loves!

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"And so, when the afterlife was made, they created a whole new world for the dead to live in. Yes, a whole new world. Here, here, I drew a map on the board for you to look at," rambled Mr. Beshoff, Taichi and Mimi's CALM teacher, as he gestured to some rusty scribbles he had scratched into his chalkboard, "See, they made this ocean - the Ocean of Forgetfullness. And most people choose to go to this ocean when they die, because why would they want to remember their life, right? Am I right?"

Taichi rolled his eyes as he rapped his pencil on his desk, bored out of his mind. What an idiot this guy was. If Tai didn't need CALM to graduate, he would have dropped this class in an instant. He glanced at Mimi, who was doodling away in her notebook, looking almost twice as bored as Taichi felt. He sighed and stared at his blank notebook. He hadn't written one thing down in CALM during the whole semester, and he knew that wasn't going to change. He ripped a page out of his notebook. Feeling a small rush, he began to rip out another. And another. And another. Soon the pages were piling up on his desk.

"Mr. Yagami," Mr. Beshoff said calmly, tapping his fingers on the board. Upon receiving no response, he cleared his throat and repeated himself, but louder. Taichi looked up quietly. He hadn't noticed that his notebook had become increasingly smaller, and the paper pile on his desk increasingly larger. "If you would please stop that incessant racket, and pay attention during my class! And clean up that mess while you're at it."

Tai stared down at the mess of papers, and sighed, but made no effort to clean it up. He could hear Mimi giggling, probably at him, so he shot her an icy look. _That'll keep her quiet_, Tai thought to himself. Mimi frowned, quickly turning back to her doodles.

"Psst.. Mimi," a voice whispered from the hallway. Mr. Beshoff's classroom had two doors - one in the front, near his desk, and one in the back, which Mimi and Taichi sat near. Often people would come by and give messages to their friends, or try to sneak students out of the classroom.

"Did you say something, Tai?" Mimi answered, looking up from her notebook.

"PSST... MIMI! OVER HERE!" the voice whispered loudly this time.

"No, I didn't say anything," Tai responded, then added as he rolled his eyes, "but there's some idiot outside the door dying for some of your attention."

"Shut up, Tai!" came the voice again. Taichi chuckled.

"Oh! Matt!" Mimi gasped, as she saw the blonde-headed teen's head poke out from behind the door.

"Shhhh.." Yamato shushed Mimi, with a finger to his lips. He then made the come-hither motion to her, signalling for her to come out to meet him. Mimi nodded, and mouthed the words 'one minute', as she raised her hand in the air.

"And so when Jesus got to the afterlife, he didn't go to the Ocean of Forgetfullness. No, no, no. Jesus went, along with some philosophers and wise men, to the River of Knowledge. At the River of Knowledge, God asked Jesus a question. Does anyone know what that question was?" Mr. Beshoff asked, continuing his far-fetched stories of the afterlife. Taichi couldn't believe they paid this guy to stand up and feed kids this kind of bullshit. Tai heard Mr. Beshoff had stolen a toaster from the Teacher's Lounge once.

"Yes, Miss Tachikawa?" Mr. Beshoff addressed Mimi.

"May I go to the washroom?" Mimi asked sweetly.

"Well, it was a good try, Miss Tachikawa, but I am pretty sure God did not ask Jesus if he could use the little boys' room. See, we all know that God is Divine. Do you know what that means? That means he doesn't need to eat to fuel himself like mere us mere humans, which, consequently, means God never needs to use the washroom."

"Well, Mr. Beshoff, that's great, but I, unlike God, am not Divine, and this morning I ate a bowl of Fruit Loops and drank some orange juice to fuel myself, and I, unlike God, _do_ need to use the washroom. So I am asking you kindly if you would allow me the privelege of using your Hall Pass so I may go and do just that." Mimi quipped.

"Oh.. oh. Um, yes, go ahead," Mr. Beshoff responded, a slight blush creeping over his face in embarassment. Mimi quietly grabbed her notebook and hid it behind her back, then picked up her purse, dropped her lanyard, with visual ID attatched, onto Mr. Beshoff's filing cabinet, grabbed the Hall Pass, and booked it. Taichi stared at her as she walked out of the classroom. How he wished someone would come fetch him, and whisk him far, far away from his lonely pile of ripped papers and Mr. Beshoff's hollow tales.

Mimi laughed as she approached Yamato, who was still standing outside her classroom's back door. She feltkind ofbad about leaving Taichi in there by himself with their madman of a teacher, but it's not like he talked to her anyways.

"That was brilliant, that little joke you made. I didn't know you had sucha quick wit," Yamato mused, "It made me believe that you, not unlike God, are truly divine," he added, pulling Mimi into a hug. Mimi rolled her eyes, but accepted his embrace nonetheless. Yamato smiled, then grabbed Mimi by the shoulders and held her in front of him.

"What do you say to lunch? Can I take you out somewhere?" he offered, "I brought my car to school today - we can go anywhere you like. My treat. What do you say? We've got forty minutes to go before our lunch hour even begins - that gives us like ninety minutes for lunch if we leave now. What do you say?"

Taichi watched Yamato and Mimi from inside the classroom - it's not like he had anything better to do anyways. To Tai, watching them was like watching a really good horror flick - he wanted so badly to look away, but, at the same time, he was afraid he would miss something. Taichi glanced over at Mimi's empty desk, and he knew in his heart that there was already something he missed.

"Wow, someone's in a good mood," Mimi remarked, "What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing, nothing, I promise," Yamato teased, "But someone did tell me that you forgot your lunch today!"

"Who told you that?" Mimi asked, trying to remember who she had spoken to about her lunch today.

"Nevermind that - where do you want to go?"

Crumpled paper balls now sat on Tai's desk alongside his pile of ripped papers. Everytime Yamato touched Mimi, another paper was ripped out of Taichi's notebook and crumpled into a little ball. He didn't know how many he had, and he didn't care to count them - it would only aggravate him more.

"Mr. Yagami?" Mr. Beshoff spoke to Taichi.

_Yeah, yeah, I'll quit crumpling up my paper when I feel like it_, Taichi thought to himself as he looked to Mr. Beshoff, _besides, I'm pretty sure no one's listening to your pointless little fairytales anyways. Asshole._

"Would you please close the door back there? The noisy hallway is causing me to lose concentration," Mr. Beshoff finished.

"Gladly," Taichi muttered, slamming the door, shutting out Mimi and Yamato's senseless nattering.

"Anywhere I want?" Mimi asked with excitement.

"Anywhere you want," Yamato reassured her.

"Dairy Queen," decided Mimi.

"Dairy Queen it is," Yamato declared with a wink, grabbing Mimi's hand and dragging her along behind him as he ran through the empty hallways to the school parking lot.

Taichi sat in the classroom, counting down minutes, waiting impatiently for the class to end. When that bell finally rang, Taichi was half asleep, and the sudden loud noise caused him to jump. Some of the other students laughed at him on their way out. He growled as he picked up his backpack and headed for the exit, leaving his mess of papers behind. As he passed by Mr. Beshoff's filing cabinet, he noticed Mimi's lanyard and visual ID was laying where Mr. Beshoff's hall pass should have been. He picked it up and shoved it into his pocket. _I'll give it to her at rehearsal tonight_, he thought.

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"Alright, everybody, today we're going to help Mr. Yagami and Miss Tachikawa get over their stage fright! I want everyone to sit in the first five rows!" Ms. Hashiguchi barked out orders as the cast flocked into the theatre. They took their seats and waited for further instructions.

"First FIVE rows, Daisuke!" Ms. Hashiguchi screamed, "FIVE! Can't you COUNT!"

Daisuke jumped out of the seat he had settled into in the seventh row, and scurried down to the third row, mumbling something about kindergarten as he went.

"It's good to see that you have, indeed, been learning _something_ in Math 13, Mr. Motomiya. Now, let's get down to business, shall we? Yagami, Tachikawa - on stage. NOW!" Ms. Hashiguchi shouted.

Ms. Perry sat perched at the piano, fumbling with a few sheets of music, frantically searching for the sheet music for 'Suddenly Seymour'. As Taichi and Mimi reached the stage and took their spots, Ms. Perry at last found the music in time to give Taichi his cue to begin singing. The sound of "awwwwww" could be heard resounding throughout the theatre as the scene progressed. This annoyed Taichi to no end, but he did his best to ignore it and continue with the song. As they neared the end of the song, a hush came over the audience as they heard Mimi and Taichi's voices melt together to sing the final line.

"_Sweet understanding - Seymour's your man!_"

Ms. Hashiguchi could feel herself shivering in anticipation. As Taichi took Mimi into his arms, he sensed a sudden stillness in the room - like everyone had stopped breathing but himself and Mimi. He looked into Mimi's cinnamon eyes and found himself overwhelmed by a feeling of vulnerability. Still, he leaned in and planted his lips meekly to hers, but he knew deep down it was a weak kiss. He prayed Ms. Hashiguchi wouldn't notice - he didn't want to have to do this all over again.

"Oh, it was marvelous, it was fabulous," Ms. Hashiguchi began, as Mimi and Taichi parted and took to their seperate corners of the stage, "It was perfect... until that kiss."

Taichi hung his head and prepared for the worst.

"Mr. Yagami, that was the weakest kiss I have ever seen! What happened to yesterday's kiss? It was perfect! It was beautiful! It was a masterpiece!"

_I know, I know, it was a bloody work of art_, Taichi thought. He hated that all his friends were seated in the theatre at this very moment, hearing Ms. Hashiguchi talk about his "perfect" kiss. He could see Sora snickering at him, and he could feel Yamato's jealous eyes staring him down.

"Now, you're going to do that _again_, until you get it right, do you understand? I want so bad for this to work, you two. I _need_ to believe that you love each other! Miss Tachikawa is trying her hardest, Mr. Yagami. Can you not show some love in her direction _please?_ I can't have a Seymour and Audrey with no chemistry. I want to believe this. I _need_ to believe this."

Something about Ms. Hashiguchi's plea struck a chord with Taichi. She made it out like he wasn't trying at all, and nothing made him angrier than someone down-playing his hard work. She wanted something to believe in, so he'd give her something to believe in. Taichi walked over to Mimi standing on the other side of the stage, grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him.

"You want something believable, Ms. Hashiguchi?" Taichi snapped, "Believe _this._"

With that, he swiftly wrapped his arms around Mimi's waist and pulled her in close to him, feeling the warmth of her body against his. He softly placed his lips to hers, and kissed her tenderly. Suprisingly, Taichi felt Mimi return his kiss, which excited him. Tai gradually pressed his lips more firmly to hers, changing their sweet, gentle kiss to a harder, more passionate kiss. He was certain he could have kept going forever, but when he heard Yamato stand up and shout a few profanities in rage, he decided it would be a good time to end it. He pulled away from Mimi, and turned back to Ms. Hashiguchi.

"How was that for 'showing some love in her direction'?" Taichi demanded.

"It was - it was... it was great," Ms. Hashiguchi stammered.

"Great! Super!I quit," Taichi announced. He then hopped off the stage, grabbed his backpack and stormed out of the theatre, not even turning back once to look at the shocked expression on Ms. Hashiguchi's face. _That's the end of that_, he thought.

Ms. Hashiguchi thought seriously about running after him, but knew her aging body would never be able to catch up with that of the young athletic Taichi. She turned to her cast, which all looked equally mortified - after all, Taichi played the main character, and they had no understudies. Yamato looked furious, Sora panic-stricken, and Hikari horrified. Mimi looked mostly stunned and a little wistful.

"Well, you can all go home now. The rest of this week's rehearsals are cancelled, until further notice. Do check the drama bulletin board this week for updates, though. Don't worry," Ms. Hashiguchi reassured her cast, "I'll get this under control. The show must go on."

The cast began to gather their things and exit the theatre, gossip and panicked words filling the air. Mimi stepped off the stage and went to collect her things from the fifth row of the theatre. To her suprise, on top of her backpack lay her lanyard and visual ID that she had left in Mr. Beshoff's classroom earlier that day. _Taichi_, she thought warmly. She tucked her lanyard into her purse, and picked up the rest of her things. As she headed out of the theatre, she could see Yamato approaching her from the corner of her eye, and she picked up the pace.

"Mimi, wait! Do you want a ride home? I have my car here, remember!" Yamato shouted after her, "Don't you want a ride? I think we need to talk!"

"No, thanks, Matt," Mimi called back to him, "I have some business to take care of."


	8. Confessions

**Noise and Kisses**

A/N: New chapter. Thank God.

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_Diiiiing-donnnnng._

Mimi shivered as a cool breeze rushed by her. It was a balmy November evening, and Mimi had been waiting on the Yagami's doorstep for a good ten minutes. She ran her hand through her hair nervously. She knew someone had to be home, as she could see lights streaming through their windows. Mimi rang the doorbell a fourth and final time, and decided that if no one answered the door within the next five minutes, she would head home. She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for someone, _anyone_, to come to the door. Three minutes passed, and then four, and Mimi at last decided to turn around and head for home. Just as she turned around, she heard the door swing open.

"Mimi!" exclaimed Mrs. Yagami breathlessly, "I'm so, so sorry!"

Mimi turned around to see Mrs. Yagami panting at the door in an apron covered with flour and spices.

"I meant to answer the door sooner, but, you see, I'm in the middle of making this salmon souffle for dinner. It's really quite a delicate process. Anyways, I called to the kids to answer the door, but, evidently, no one came. I'm so sorry. Please, come inside."

"Thank you, Mrs. Yagami. I'm so sorry if I caused you any trouble," Mimi apologized, stepping into the Yagami's apartment and taking off her shoes, "is there anything I can help you with in the kitchen?"

"Oh, no, no, I'll be alright on my own," Mrs. Yagami assured Mimi, "Are you here to see Tai?"

Mimi nodded, "I need to talk with him about something,"

"Well, I haven't seen him since he came home from school. He's probably in his bedroom. If he's not there, you can ask Hikari where he is - she'll probably know."

"Thank you, Mrs. Yagami," Mimi repeated as she headed off down the hallway to Taichi's room. When she reached his door, she took hold of the doorknob and paused._ It's been a long time since I've been here_, Mimi thought to herself. She knocked lightly on the door and waited for an answer. When no answer came, she opened the door quietly and poked her head inside. Sure enough, Taichi was there, sitting alone on his bed. As soon as he saw Mimi's face, he turned away from her and began violently wiping his eyes with his shirt sleeves. Mimi walked softly towards him, but kept her distance. She removed her lanyard and visual ID from her pocket and held it in her hand in front of her.

"I, um... I wanted to thank you," Mimi blurted out after a long silence, "for bringing my lanyard back for me,"

"It was no problem," Taichi replied gloomily, "Is that all you came here for?"

Mimi shook her head, "No, no, I, um... I also wanted to talk to you about... about what happened today at rehearsal."

Taichi turned to face Mimi, and she immediately noticed his red, puffy eyes. She felt a pang of sorrow as she came to realize that Taichi had been crying. She looked at the floor - the sight of Taichi looking so disheartened made her heart ache.

"Look... if - if you don't want to talk about it, we don't have to,"

"No," Taichi decided, "it needs to be discussed, so why put it off?"

"Right," agreed Mimi, with a nod, "Look, Taichi, I know you're upset, but you can't quit the play."

"I believe I just did, Mimi,"

"I know, but," Mimi sighed, "Tai - we need you. There are only three months left until opening night. There's no way Ms. Hashiguchi is going to find a new Seymour in that short period of time,"

"She doesn't have to look hard. She'll probably just give my part to Yamato,"

"No, she won't, because then she'll have to replace the dentist, too."

"She will, too, Mimi. You and I both know it," Taichi insisted, "although I'm sure no one would have a problem with that. Yamato will be just thrilled to have a bigger role - his ego will probably inflate like a bloody balloon. And I know you won't be too bummed out about it - you'd probably love to be practicing that kissing scene with _him_ every day."

"I would not!"

"Mimi, you don't need to lie to me. I see the way he looks at you. You cut class for him. He buys you lunches. He drives you to school. He drives you home. You're always hugging in the hallways," Taichi argued, "I know - hell, everybody knows Yamato's into you. You can't tell me you don't have feelings for Mr. Big Shot."

"I don't have feelings for '_Mr. Big Shot'_, Tai," Mimi protested, "Yamato is very sweet, yes, but we're just friends. Besides, we're practically _family_ - his father and my aunt are dating, and it looks like they're getting pretty serious. Give it a few months and Yamato and I will probably be cousins."

"Then why do you let him _touch_ you like he does? Why do you let him _protect_ you all the time? Why do you spend so much time with him?"

"Yamato's the kind of person who needs someone to care for - someone to watch over. Now that Takeru's old enough to take care of himself, he has no one to look out for. When you started ragging on me, you presented the perfect oppurtunity for Yamato. He decided it was his job to protect me, and as long as you keep acting the way you have been towards me, Yamato's going to keep hanging around and being overprotective. It's as simple as that."

"God, what are you a psychic or something? How the heck do you know all this junk?"

"I took a Psychology course last year. I can decipher people's personalities pretty well."

"Well, what do you know about my personality?"

"I know that the way you've been acting towards me is just a cry for attention," Mimi retorted, "and since no one's been responding to it the way you want them to, you've continued the behaviour."

"Damn," uttered Taichi, his eyes becoming damp again. The two stared at each other for a seemingly endless period of silence, as the atmosphere in Tai's bedroom became increasingly tense. Taichi's eyes shone with fresh, dewy tears. It was a good seven minutes before Mimi finally spoke.

"Will you please reconsider your resignation from Little Shop?" she pleaded, her tone softening.

"Mimi, I can't _take_ it," Taichi whispered, desperately trying not to cry, "I can't take all the criticism. I can't stand Ms. Hashiguchi's endless torment. I can't handle everyone being angry with me."

"No one's angry with you, Taichi," Mimi assured him gently.

"That's not true," he whimpered, "Yamato's angry with me, Sora's angry with me... even you're angry with me, Mimi,"

Mimi shook her head, "I'm not angry with you."

Taichi stared at her, blinking tearfully. His expression softened as their eyes met, and he felt the tension in the room begin to melt away. Mimi opened her mouth to speak, but Taichi interrupted her, carefully patting the spot on the bed next to him. Mimi was taken aback by the gesture, but sat down beside the tanned, well-built young man nevertheless.

"Taichi, it's not too late to fix things, you know," she whispered in his ear, placing her hand on his leg. Taichi rested his head on Mimi's shoulder and slowly let the tears spill from his eyes. It felt so good to finally release all the emotions he had kept inside.

"I'm so, so sorry, Mimi," he whispered. Mimi began to reply, but a knock at the door interrupted. In walked Mrs. Yagami, a bowl in one hand, whisk in the other, whisking frantically as she approached. When she spotted Taichi, however, she dropped the whisk into her batter.

"Taichi.. what's the matter?" she gasped.

"Taichi's had a rough day," Mimi explained, stroking Tai's hair gently, "he'll be okay, Mrs. Yagami."

"Listen, Mimi, I was just coming in to ask you if you would like to stay for dinner?" Mrs. Yagami inquired, a look of worry still plastered across her face. The question was directed at Mimi, but her eyes remained focused on her son.

"That would be lovely, Mrs. Yagami," Mimi answered politely.

"Alright, good, I'll just throw another egg in here... are you sure he'll be alright?" Mrs. Yagami wondered, "Taichi, honey, are you going to be okay?"

"He'll be just fine, Mrs. Yagami," Mimi assured her, "I promise you."

"Well... okay then. I'm going to go finish dinner then,"

With that, Mrs. Yagami dissapeared from Taichi's room, leaving the two teens in solitude once more. The silence was interrupted only by the sound of soft whimpering. Taichi dried his eyes on his sleeves.

"I don't understand it, Mimi,"

"What don't you understand?"

"You," Taichi answered, "after everything I've said to you, and the way I've acted... I can't believe that you're still here. You haven't abandoned me, you haven't given up on me..."

"And I'm not about to. It hasn't been all bad between us, Taichi. You brought back my lanyard for me, didn't you? You helped me out when I was lost, you listened to me sing before my audition... you _kissed_ me. You and I have always been great friends, Taichi, and you're not the kind of guy to throw away a good friendship. I don't know what's wrong - if it's something I've done, or something I've said - but if you would let me in, I know we could work it out. I just know it."

Taichi looked up at Mimi and paused a moment just to take in everything he saw. Her now blonde hair, which she dyed for the play, her dazzling honey-colored eyes, and that soft, yet reassuring look on her face. She was breath-taking.

"God, you're absolutely perfect, Mimi," he uttered, astonished.

"I'm _what_?" Mimi asked, taken back by his sudden outburst.

"Mimi, do you remember back when we were in the same class in elementary school?" Taichi started, ignoring her puzzlement.

"Mrs. Yujiwa's class," Mimi nodded, "It was a one/two split because there were hardly any grade ones enrolled that year. That was the only time I got to be in the same class as you, Sora and Yamato. Of course I remember."

"Okay, well, do you remember that time out on the playground... it was Valentine's day, so it was February, and it was cold. We were both bundled up in our winter jackets, with our little gloves and scarves and hats..."

"And?"

"And I gave you this ridiculous Valentine's day card... and then I childishly asked you to marry me, remember?"

"I think so..."

"You kissed me on the cheek, and then you said "Nope!", and ran off with Sora to the other side of the playground."

"Ah, yes, now I remember... God, I was playing hard to get in grade one?"

"Yes, yes you were... and you broke my little seven year old heart," Taichi admitted, turning his face away from Mimi.

"Please don't tell me you've been holding a grudge about that all these years, and you're finally taking it out on me now?"

"No," Taichi shook his head, "no, no, no. That's just the beginning to my story. After that incident, I swore to myself I would do anything I could to change your mind about it. I had convinced myself that you and I were meant to be."

Mimi blushed and bit down hard on her lip. She struggled to fight the incessant urge to look away from him.

"Then you left me... well, everyone... but you left, anyhow, and it killed me inside, Mimi. I didn't tell anyone how I felt, and I tried to be a man about it and not act too upset when you left, but inside I was screaming for you to stay. I promised myself you would come back. I told myself that very thing every single day for a whole year, and it took me that long to realize that it wasn't gonna happen. You were gone for good."

"Taichi..."

"Another year and a half passed, and I allowed myself to let you go. I started dating Sora after that, and things were going great - _really_ great. I thought it would last... well, forever, until you walked back into my life. As soon as I heard you were coming back, my heart grew heavy, and I knew that my days with Sora were numbered. There was just no way that Sora and I would last while you were around... I can't resist temptation - you know that... Anyways, I decided that, for Sora's sake, I would try as hard as possible to make our relationship work, so I blocked you out of my life in the only way I could think of - by acting like a complete asshole. Only, it backfired on me, because all it did was make you want to reach out to me more than ever, and Sora dumped me because of it, too. So I ruined hers and my relationship by trying to save it... which just tells me that it wasn't meant to be in the first place. But then, after her and I were done... what was I supposed to do? I couldn't just act normal, and pretend like I hadn't been a jerk towards you, but I didn't feel like having to explain my behaviour to anyone, so... I just kept at it, and I tried to isolate myself from the group. But I let my rude behaviour slide a couple of times, and you saw through me, where the others didn't - thus why you're the one sitting here with me, as opposed to Yamato or Sora... or even Hikari..."

Mimi felt her eyes dampen as Taichi looked up at her with his red, swollen eyes. She didn't know how to respond to him, so she chose not to. She just sat there, staring at him, finally understanding his perspective. She felt terrible for all the pain she had put him through, but she had had absolutely no idea all of this had been going on inside of him. Mimi hated the feeling of hurting others, and she especially hated to hurt Taichi, who was normally so happy, and so carefree. She could see that his eyes had begun welling with tears again.

"God, I'm a mess," Taichi sobbed, as his tears began to pour down his face again. He placed his elbows on his knees, and rested his head in his hands. Mimi rubbed his back tenderly in hopes of soothing him. There was nothing she could say to him to help him, to calm him down, so she remained quiet, silently supporting him. He sighed, rubbing his eyes on his sleeves for the hundredth time. Once his eyes were dry, he lifted his head up from out of his hands and folded his arms neatly on his knees.

"I can't believe I told you all that," he said quietly, his eyes lowered to the floor.

"I can," commented Mimi, "you've always been courageous, Tai. Courage doesn't only relate to performing brave feats."

He nodded in agreement - Mimi was right. He did, after all, possess the Crest of Courage, right? Taichi found ease in all he did, because fear was not an object for him. So, boldy, he asked her, "You don't, by chance... maybe, share my.. _feelings_, do you?"

"Taichi, I am a Princess," she said, a smile dawning across her face, "and every Princess needs her -"

"Prince Charming," Taichi interrupted, "like mister Yamato "_my-middle-name-is-Charming_" Ishida. I get it. Okay."

Mimi shook her hood, "No, I was going to say Knight in Shining Armor. Like the heroic Taichi "_I-would-slay-ten-dragons-for-my-princess_" Yagami. There's _never_ been anyone else."

Taichi smiled for the first time that night, and it wasn't a half hearted smile, either. It was the beautiful, happy-go-lucky signature grin of Taichi's that Mimi had missed so much. She beamed back at him. _It's good to have you back_, she thought. Taichi pulled Mimi into a warm embrace, and kissed her affectionately, savoring the fruity taste of her lip gloss. Mimi returned his kiss, wrapping her arms about him, enveloped in his warmth and breathing in the musky, citrusy scent of his cologne. Their mouths fit together perfectly, like two puzzle pieces, one completing the other. Momentarily parting lips, Taichi gently pushed Mimi backward onto his freshly-made bed, crawling on top of her. Again, their lips connected, sweet and insistent, as both their worlds washed away. Mimi parted her lips slowly, softly nudging Taichi's mouth open with her tongue, breathing deeper than before. Taichi found himself surprised with Mimi's forcefullness, but he accepted it nonetheless. The room grew heavy with passion as the two teenager's tongues passed over one another. Mimi rolled over on the bed so that Taichi was lying beneath her. She placed her hands on his firm chest, feeling his muscles protruding beneath the buttoned up, white collared shirt that was part of his school uniform. Without thinking, Mimi began to unbutton his shirt slowly. She felt the rise and fall of his chest with each breath he took, and she could hear his heart pounding. At least, she thought it was his heart pounding, but maybe it was -

_SLAM!_

"God, Taichi," came a familiar voice through Taichi's doorway, "I've been standing here knocking _forever_ and -"

The voice stopped mid-sentence, gasping, no doubt at the site of Mimi and Taichi's bodies entwined on Tai's bed. The two teens parted, Mimi moving swiftly off of Taichi, and Taichi struggling to re-button his shirt. Standing in the doorway was Hikari, eyes wide and jaw dropped. She shook her head, trying to wipe the memory of that scene from her brain.

"What on _earth_ were you two doing?" she exclaimed.

"Well, we -"

"No, you know what, I don't even _want_ to know, okay?" Hikari decided, "I just came in to tell you that it's dinner time. Mom called twice already, but clearly you guys were... busy. Or_ getting _busy, maybe."

Taichi rolled his eyes, "Tell Mom we're coming,"

"Alright," Hikari sighed as she left the room.

"_Wow_," Taichi panted, looking back to Mimi, "I didn't think you'd be so... _aggresive_."

"Taichi," Mimi confessed, "I've been wanting to kiss you like that for a _long, long time_."

The two chuckled as Taichi took Mimi by the hand and they exited his bedroom to join his family in the kitchen for dinner.

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"Thank you very much for dinner, Mrs. Yagami," Mimi smiled as she put on her jacket, and picked up her bookbag and purse, "it was delicious."

"Oh, you're very welcome," Mrs. Yagami beamed at her, "It's nice to have someone around who appreciates my cooking," she added, shooting a look in Taichi's direction. He shrugged.

"I'll drive you home, Mimi," Taichi offered, grabbing his mom's car keys off the shelf.

"You drive, Tai?"

"Yeah, I've had my licence for a year now, I just don't have a car, so I don't drive to school or anything - not like Yamato. But Mom will let me borrow hers on the occasion, right Mom?"

Mrs. Yagami nodded.

"Like right now, for instance. It's dark out; I don't want you walking home alone, Mimi. Not to mention, it's freezing outside. Taichi will take you. It'll be no trouble. Really. Go - it's getting late," she said, ushering them out the door.

"See you in a bit," Taichi called to his mom as she shut the door. He grabbed Mimi's hand and they walked together down to where Mrs. Yagami's car was parked on the street. He unlocked the doors with a push of a button, and held the door open for Mimi. She thanked him, and then he hopped in on the driver's side and started the engine. Mimi watched him adoringly as he pulled out of the parking space and drove her off into the night. The moonlight danced across his face, making him appear even more handsome. The music playing on the radio was soft and sweet, and Mimi couldn't help but smile as she watched Taichi, so focused on the road, and thought about that moment in his bedroom, his perfect body lying beneath hers on his soft bed...

"What you thinking about?" Taichi asked casually, noticing that she had been staring at him for quite some time.

"Oh! N-nothing," Mimi stuttered, startled. She glanced out her window and watched the trees and houses fly by her. Taichi shrugged, and turned back to the road. Mimi only lived a couple blocks away, and they had already arrived at her street. He pulled up to her aunt's house and into the driveway, parking the car, and staring at the garage door. Mimi briefly glanced at Taichi, then turned her attention towards the floor, thinking of what to say to him before getting out of the car. They sat in silence for a moment, the sound of their breathing growing increasingly louder. Finally, they spoke.

"I always thought you were into Yamato," Taichi blurted out.

"I always thought you were into Sora," Mimi spoke at the exact same time.

"Well, there was one time I thought you were into Yamato," Mimi confessed.

"Well, there was one time I thought you were into Sora," Taichi admitted just as Mimi made her confession.

They each turned to look at each other, dumfounded.

"You _what?_" they stammered in unison, then burst out laughing.

"Please tell me you're joking!" Taichi begged, "Me and _Yamato!_"

"I don't know," Mimi muttered, embarassed, "I heard a rumor once..."

"Oh, God, that's right. That chick... oy, what was her name?" Taichi pondered out loud, "Oh, yeah -_ Toshiko_. She started that rumor in junior high that I was gay, because I wouldn't go out with her. Then she asked Yamato out, and he rejected her, too, and so she started telling people him and I were dating. I totally forgot about that! God, what a mess she made," he laughed.

"Well, you did date Sora, so I'm sure people have realized by now that your homosexuality was just a ridiculous rumour," Mimi giggled, "but Sora and I? I know for a fact there weren't any rumours floating around junior high about me being a lesbian, so how on earth did _that_ come about?"

"Honestly," Taichi began, "I don't even remember exactly why, but it was a theory of Yamato's and mine that we had for about a month in eighth grade."

"Theory?" Mimi queried, "It sounds more like a perverted fantasy to me."

Taichi laughed, "Maybe."

"But really, Tai," Mimi continued, "there's never been anything between Yamato and I, so you can stop worrying about that."

"Alright," Taichi replied, "and Sora was... well, a fling, really. Before that happened, any chemistry or sparks or whatever you saw between her and I were all in your imagination. Just friends. I promise."

"I believe you," Mimi insisted, then, glancing at the clock, added, "I better go, Tai. It's almost nine, and I stil have math homework to do."

"Alright. I'll walk you to the door," he sighed, then got out of the car and walked around to open her door before she had the chance to protest. Taichi extended his hand to her, and helped her up out of the car. He then grabbed her book bag from her, closed her door, and walked her to the front door, his free hand grasping hers. When they reached the door, Taichi dropped her book bag on the step and enveloped her in a big hug. They seperated, but Mimi held onto his arm.

"Thanks, Taichi,"

"Anytime,"

They smiled at each other warmly, and Mimi gave Taichi a quick peck on the cheek. He started to walk away, when Mimi tugged on his jacket.

"What are we going to tell the others?" Mimi inquired, letting go of his jacket as he turned back to face her again.

"We'll just tell them we worked it out. It's none of their business what went on between us," replied Taichi.

"You know as well as I do they'll never settle for that answer. They're nosy kids - they'll want to know every detail."

"Okay, well then... let's say I wrote you a letter while you were in New York and you never wrote me back, and so I thought you hated me and thought you were too good for me, and so I got pissed off. And we can say we talked about it and we discovered that you never recieved the letter in the first place, and it was all a huge misunderstanding."

"Wow, someone's creative. That sounds good - think they'll buy it?"

"C'mon, Mimi, we got the lead roles in the play - we must have _some_ kind of acting skills. If we play it right, they'll eat up anything we say," Taichi convinced her.

"I like your thinking!" Mimi explained, "And speaking of the play - you'll go talk to Ms. Hashiguchi tomorrow?"

"Well," Taichi started, thinking about how much he did _not_ want to deal with Ms. Hashiguchi at the moment, "I guess so."

"Promise me, Taichi."  
"Will you come with me?" he asked.

Mimi nodded.

"Okay, then. I promise."

"Good," Mimi smiled. Taichi smiled back, then remember what time it was.

"Okay, I've gotta run now," Taichi frowned, "but I'll see you tomorrow, alright? Good night, Mimi."

He smiled at Mimi and waved, then started back towards his mom's car in the driveway.

"Wait!" Mimi called out after him.

"You're never gonna let me go, are you?" he joked.

"Well, no," Mimi repsonded, "not without a kiss, anyway."

Taichi grinned.

"Aww, c'mere," he said, spreading his arms open, waiting for her. Mimi jumped off the front step and into Taichi's open arms, where he kissed her sweetly and softly on the lips. Mimi melted into his embrace, and gazed at Taichi fondly as they broke the kiss.

"Thank you," Mimi whispered, her eyes shining.

"You're welcome. Can I go now?" he asked playfully.

"Of course," she replied, "see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Mimi," he said for the second time that night, then got into his mother's car and pulled out of the driveway, waving as he drove off. Mimi begrudgingly picked up her book bag and finally entered the house, Taichi on her mind. When she stepped into the house and took off her shoes, she snatched her math book out of her book bag and went to her room to work on her homework. She picked up her pencil and started working on the first question, but there was only one equation on her mind.

_Taichi Yagami plus Mimi Tachikawa equals... ?_


	9. Drama Club Romance

"Welcome back to the _Little Shop of Horrors_," Ms. Hashiguchi sighed, raising her eyebrow at Taichi, "and you'll be _staying_ with us this time, I presume?"

"I'm back for good," Taichi vowed, flashing Ms. Hashiguchi a charming grin.

"He promises," added Mimi, with a sharp glance.

"I promise," echoed Taichi obediently.

"Good," Ms. Hashiguchi stated, "now get out of my office. I have a lunch hour to enjoy."

With that, Taichi and Mimi stood up and quickly exited Ms. Hashiguchi's office, and headed off down the hallways to meet their friends by the elevator. Taichi could finally breathe again after sitting in that tiny office, thick with tension. He was so glad Mimi had come with him to talk with Ms. Hashiguchi - he was surethat she was about ready to _kill_ him for his outburst the previous day. He grinned at the gorgeous girl walking beside him - how things could change in the matter of a day.

For the rest of November, rehearsals resumed their normal schedule and pace, and between all the singing and dancing, Mimi and Taichi managed to find ways to keep their blossoming relationship under the radar. It seemed that their small white lie about the unreceived mail had convinced the gang, and, besides the still on-going rivalry between Taichi and Yamato, the group had returned to its once relatively harmonious state. The cast often received Fridays off from rehearsal, so Mimi and Taichi would falsely claim Ms. Hashiguchi (or just "Hashi", as most the cast had recently begun to call her, except for Yamato, who affectionately nicknamed her "The Gooch") wished to rehearse exclusively with her Audrey and Seymour, and then take that opportunity to spend some time alone. Often times they would just sit around Mimi's Aunt's house watching a movie or playing video games - they didn't want to risk being caught by their friends out in public. Every once in a while they would lounge around the Yagami's, but only when Hikari was out of the house. Although Hikari had already caught on to their charade and had agreed to play like she didn't know what was going on, there was always the risk that Takeru, Daisuke or Miyako would be around with Hikari in the house. Besides, Kari had already witnessed Taichi and Mimi making out once, and, in her opinion, that was one too many times. The last thing she needed was to see her brother macking on women, so she made a habit of making herself scarce when Mimi came 'round the house. Besides Hikari, none of the other digidestined had seemed to clue in to the romance which was blooming right before their eyes, but it was only a matter of time before one was bound to make a discovery.

"Mimi!" Yamato shouted as he engulfed the petite femme from behind into a bear hug, "Look, I know it's a Friday night, and you and Taichi have to rehearse with the Gooch and all that good stuff, but my band's playing this gig tonight, and, I know it's last minute, but I'd like it if you came, Mimi."

Mimi closed her locker and heaved her bookbag over her shoulder, turning around to face Yamato. It was the second Friday into December, and Mimi and Taichi had already scheduled their date for the night. Takeru was taking Hikari out that night, so Taichi had taken the opportunity to invite Mimi over for a fireside movie fest. He had picked up a couple of his favourite flicks, as well as a couple of Mimi's favourites, and had made sure the hot cocoa was in good supply. Mimi had been looking forward to it all week long, and was not about to break her date for anyone, especially not Yamato Ishida.

"Hey, I'd love to, Matt," she answered with a half-hearted smile as she lied through her teeth, "but I've made a commitment, you know."

"I know, I know," the blonde-headed heart throb quipped, as he ran a hand smoothly through his golden locks, "but it's only one rehearsal, Mimi. I'll even go ask the Gooch if you can skip out on this one. I'll - I'll tell her you have a doctor's appointment... because you've come down with a minor case of... uhh... pneumonia! C'mon, Mimi. It's one night - it'll be fun, I promise! We're playing down at the Shamrock on Fourth Ave. I'll even let you come up and sing a duet with me. What do you say?"

Mimi rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Yamato, I'm not going to lie to Hashi so I can go to your gig, I'm sorry. I firmly believe in being honest with people, and besides, isn't the Shamrock a pub? I'm underage."

"Yeah, but you're with the band! I can get you in, no problem!"

"No, that's fine, Yamato. I'm sorry, but there's just no way I can get out of this rehearsal. Maybe another time?"

"Another time? Well, alright, Mimi. But you don't know what you're missing out on," Yamato looked at her in disbelief. He glanced casually down the hallway in the direction of the theatre. He was sure he could persuade Ms. Hashiguchi into letting Mimi go somehow - and wouldn't Mimi be surprised when she found out he got her out of rehearsal? He decided right then and there - he would go see the Gooch, and when he convinced her to call off the extra rehearsal for the night, he would call up Mimi and surprise her before she even arrived at the theatre.

"Alright, well, uh, I'm going to go now," started Yamato, his eyes still fixated on the theatre door, "I'll, uh, give you a call later, maybe."

His voice faded slightly as he finished his sentence, and before Mimi realized it, Yamato had disappeared. _Whatever_, Mimi thought to herself, _I'm already late, Taichi's probably wondering where I am._ She took a quick look around before leaving her C-hallway locker and heading for the D-hallway exit. Outside the D-hallway exit were the steps leading out to the portables; this was the very rear of the school, the exact opposite location of the usual meeting spot of the digidestined. Taichi and Mimi knew that the others would be all meeting up in the front foyer, so they picked the total opposite spot as their place to rendez-vous, and, so far they hadn't been caught. They would always wait there for about ten minutes so as to give the others a head start home, and then they would leave, walking at a slow pace, making sure they were far enough behind their friends that they remained unseen. Today Mimi was a little behind schedule, but she shrugged it off. As she pushed open the D-hallway door, she found Taichi waiting for her outside. He was all bundled up in a big winter jacket, with mittens, a scarf, and earmuffs to boot. It was only a couple weeks into December, and it was already proving itself to be a freezing cold winter. Mimi slipped her toque on over her blonde locks as she joined Taichi in the chilly winter air.

"You're late," he said, his voice muffled through his scarf.

"I know," Mimi replied, her voice shaking due to her shivering, "I'll tell you about it when we get to your house. It's bloody freezing out here. Let's roll."

Taichi chuckled, and took her gloved hand in his own. The two made their way around the school to the front, then began the long walk to Taichi's house.

Meanwhile, Yamato had been standing in front of the doors to the theatre, wondering why on earth they would be locked. He banged on the doors to the green room, expecting someone to open them. Why were the lights off? Shouldn't Ms. Hashiguchi be in there? He continued to bang on the door.

"Do you need in?" came a voice from behind Yamato. It was Ms. Hashiguchi.

"Oh! Hashi! There you are! You must be coming for the rehearsal, right?"

Ms. Hashiguchi shot him a strange look, "Rehearsal? We don't have rehearsals on Friday, Matt. I just forgot the keys to my car in my office, so I came back to pick them up. Do you need something?"

"No rehearsals?" Yamato puzzled, "So, what about Taichi and Mimi? I thought you needed to work with them extra on Suddenly Seymour... and... stuff..."

"Mmm, nope," she responded, "they go home every Friday just like the rest of the cast. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get my keys."

With that, Ms. Hashiguchi opened the green room and slipped inside, leaving Yamato alone and bewildered.

As Yamato shoved his keys into the ignition of his car, a flurry of thoughts blew through his mind. If Taichi and Mimi weren't at rehearsals every Friday, where on earth where they? Slowly he began to piece everything together in his mind - the sudden apparent friendliness between the two, that phony story about the letter Mimi hadn't received. It all started to make sense, but Yamato could not believe the two had kept that kind of secret from their closest friends, especially not for so long. It had been a whole month, and no one had even suspected foul play. Yamato was eager to do some of his own sleuthing and to pry Hikari for information, but he knew now was not the time - he had a last minute rehearsal with the band to get to in fifteen minutes. As he sped down the street to his house to pick up his guitar and throw on a pair of jeans, he noticed two familiar figures holding hands and walking towards the Yagami residence. He almost rear-ended the vehicle in front of him as he came to realize who the two figures were; _Taichi and Mimi_.

"I can't believe this shit!" Yamato groaned to himself. He watched in awe as the two made their way up the street hand in hand, with soppy looks on their faces that proclaimed to the world that they were falling, and falling hard. Yamato felt his temperature rising, now that he was witnessing first hand what he had just spent the past ten minutes piecing together. Tai and Mimi were most definitely dating, and it made Yamato's blood boil. He lifted his hand to honk his horn and disturb the lovers. If Taichi and Mimi knew that he had them figured out, their entire night would be ruined, and _that_ excited Yamato. His hand was less than an inch away from the horn when he stopped. He had a better idea. He grabbed his phone from his bag, and continued driving up the hill, ignoring the two now as he dialed madly. The line kept ringing and ringing, until finally - an answer.

"Sora? Hey, it's Matt, you'll never guess what I-"

"What is it, Yama?" came the voice from the other side of the line, sounding more than a little agitated, "I just ran myself a bath, and I'd like to get in it while it's still warm, if you don't mind."

"Oh, hey, sorry," Yamato apologized, "I didn't mean to interrupt, but I have a feeling you'll want to hear this. So, guess who I just saw walking to the Yagami's."

"I don't know, Kari and T.K.? Can't you just tell me?" replied Sora, in a tone which gave Matt the impression that she was rolling her eyes at him.

"Taichi and Mimi."

"What!?"

Yamato heard what sounded like a phone being dropped, and then the scrambling to pick it up that followed.

"Are you kidding me, Ishida? That can't be possible, they have... emergency rehearsal, or whatever!"

Yamato laughed, "Oh yeah, that's the other thing. I talked to The Gooch after school to try and get Mimi out of the rehearsal so she could come to my gig. As it turns out, there is no rehearsal tonight. All those Friday rehearsals Mimi and Taichi told us about are a load of bull. They made them up so that they could spend some time together alone without the rest of us clueing in!"

"Oh my God. I can not believe them! How is this even possible?" Sora mused.

"I don't know, Sora. You'd think one of us would have figured it out by now - it's been a month!"

"Shit. Yamato, what do we do?"

"I've got an idea, but you're going to have to show up early to my show tonight so we can discuss before I get on stage. So I'll let you go so you can go get ready."

"Al-alright. Phewww, God, it's going to take me some time just to calm down. I'll see you at like... five-ish?"

"Sounds good. See you then," Yamato grinned as he hung up the phone. This was going to be fun.

"Can I see your ID, hun?" asked a waitress in a green half-apron and black slacks, as she leaned into Sora's booth near the back of the Shamrock.

"Oh, I'm just ordering water. No alcohol for me," Sora replied, shaken by the sudden approach. She had been brooding ever since she sat down, and had kind of fell into some sort of trance, just staring off into the distance, watching Yamato and his band set up their amps and instruments. Her first reaction to the discovery of Taichi and Mimi's coupledom had been pure shock, but the more she thought about it, the more it upset her.

"Even so, I still need to see your ID. We don't allow minors in here, so I'm required to check. Sorry, honey, company policy."

"I-I'm with the band."

The waitress laughed, "I'm sorry, sweetie, I'm going to have to ask you to-"

"She's with me," came a manly voice from behind the waitress. Sora grinned as the green-apron'd girl turned to see Yamato standing behind her.

"Oh my goodness... you're.. you're... oh, gee, hi," the waitress stuttered, realizing she was face-to-face with the lead singer of The Teenage Wolves.

"Hi," Yamato responded flatly, "would you mind leaving me and Sora alone for a minute?" he asked, gesturing to Sora.

"Oh, yes, sure, of course," sputtered the waitress as she took off in flash, not wanting to tick Yamato off.

"Thanks, Matt," Sora muttered.

"Not a problem," Yamato responded, grinning. He glanced at their empty table, then hollered after the waitress, "Bring me two beers and a plate of nachos!"

"So, what do we do?" Sora started, hoping that jumping straight into the Tai/Mimi conversation would make it easier, rather than dragging out the agony.

"Business already? Boy, you move fast, Sora. Well, here's the thing: I'm a little pissed off by the whole situation, so I'm thinking some sort of revenge is in order."

"You're pissed off? Why?" Sora inquired.

"Well," Yamato began, "well, I suppose you know that I had a huge crush on Mimi, right? Yeah, well, Taichi knew that, too. And we're supposed to be best friends, so the fact that he went behind my back to get my girl is stinging me pretty bad right now. Nevermind the fact that they lied to us, and don't even have the guts to let us know they're _in love_, or whatever. Oh, and I suppose that whole thing where Taichi was a huge douchebag to Mimi for, like, two months, and somehow still wound up hooking up with her, even though I was the one being a perfect gentleman and treating her the way she should be isn't really making me feel too great either."

Sora winced. She hadn't realized how much deeper this ran for Yamato - it was more than just a matter of being decieved. The way he saw it, he was backstabbed by his best friend and used by the girl he cared for. Although Yamato was speaking in a relatively calm manner to her, Sora could see a fire burning behind his eyes, and it hurt her a little to see his pain.

"But I don't see why _you_ wouldn't be mad, Sora," Yamato continued, "I mean, Mimi's your best friend, and Taichi is your ex. Friends don't date their friend's ex-boyfriends, am I right?"

_Ouch. That one stung,_ thought Sora.

"You're right," Sora mumbled.

Yamato perked up, "What's that?" He had been so engulfed by his own passion for a moment that he completely forgot he was engaged in a conversation.

"You're right," repeated Sora, just as the waitress came back with a plate oozing with cheesy, delicious nachos, and two beers, just as Matt had ordered. She didn't bother speaking this time; she simply placed the food and beer in front of the two and took off, embarrassed. Yamato grabbed his beer and downed half of it in one gulp - anger made him thirsty. Sora nibbled half-heartedly at the nachos.

"So, what do we do, then?"

Yamato downed the second half of his beer, wiped his mouth, and replied, "We sabotage the play."

"We what?" Sora asked, dropping a chip into the sour cream.

"We sabotage the play," Yamato repeated himself cooly, "It's in a couple weeks. We'll just hide Mimi's costumes during the run, and give the band the wrong music to play for Suddenly Seymour - maybe we'll give them something funny, like the Barney theme or something - and we'll replace the plant with a -"

"Yamato, stop," Sora interrupted, "Stop! Listen to yourself. This is ridiculous. This isn't an eighteen year old's plan, this is an eight year old's."

"What do you mean?" Yamato demanded, feeling a little offended.

"Listen, if you want to get to Taichi... I know how we can do it."

"You... you do?"

Now Yamato was listening.

Sora nodded, "I hate to do this to him, but... he's a jealous creature. The best way you can get to Taichi is... through me. If you know what I mean."

Yamato stared at Sora, and raised his eyebrows to ask her if she was serious. When Sora nodded solemnly, Yamato's jaw dropped. It was genius. Mind-blowingly so. He grabbed his beer and downed the other half, and then gestured to the beer in front of Sora. He grabbed it after Sora had confirmed she wouldn't be drinking it, and chugged it down. Then he stared at Sora again.

"Okay," he stated.

"Okay?"

"I'll do it," Yamato replied, "I'm ready."

"Okay. Well, in that case," Sora sighed with relief and gave Yamato the run-down of how this plan would work, "Ok, so, we don't have to _actually_ date, but we have to make the world believe that we are dating. So, when we are around our friends, specifically Taichi or Mimi, we CAN NOT keep our hands off each other, got it? We're _that_ couple - clingy to the point that it's disgusting. PDA is a must, and over-the-top PDA is always welcomed. Do you think we need a story as to how we got together?"

"Probably not, but just in case, let's say I wrote you a song about my burning desire for you and gave you a private show where I played said song on my acoustic in the back of my car after the show tonight. Sound good?"

Sora was impressed, "Well played! And it sounds plausible. Okay, so, you and I are officially dating starting post-show tonight. Do we need to go over what is acceptable PDA and what isn't, well, seeing as we're only pretending to date?"

Matt laughed, "Hey, as for me, I'm open to anything, but if you're wanting a no tongues and no breasty business type deal, I am happy to oblige."

"Breasty business is a definite no. But tongues you should reconsider..."

"Sora, you saucy minx!" Yamato gasped.

The sound of microphone feedback interrupted Sora and Yamato's laughter, followed by a Shamrock employee introducing tonight's entertainment, The Teenage Wolves.

"And on that note, I take my leave," Yamato exclaimed, sliding out of the booth, and leaning over to give Sora a kiss. He stopped halfway to her lips and laughed, "Oh, that's right, we're not dating for another couple hours!"

The two burst into laughter.

"Oh, and hey, on a serious note, feel free to talk to any of our friends in the audience about how sexy I look on stage. It'll make this whole thing more believable," Yamato suggested with a wink, as he turned and dashed off toward the stage. He looked back at Sora once, and called back, "Hey, finish those nachos, will ya?" before hopping up onto the stage and dissappearing behind a wall of cheers and shouts.

"_I turn around, I can see what's behind me. I turn back around, I can see what's in front of me..."_

The Teenage Wolves' set had run just over an hour and a half now, and they were closing their show with an acoustic version of their first hit. Sora was still sitting in her booth, but now she was surrounded by Miyako, Daisuke and Koushirou - all underage, but that waitress didn't dare ID anyone sitting with Sora now. All night, Sora had watched the show, sporting a look which she hoped looked dreamy and dazed. Every once in awhile, she would sigh, or turn to Miyako and make some ridiculous remark like, "Isn't he _dreamy?"_ Thankfully Miyako was doing the same thing, but for every boy in the room, so she didn't notice Sora's terrible acting. She knew it was wrong, but somewhere deep down inside, Sora was bursting with excitement to put this plan in action. She'd never realized how positively delicious it could be, being the villain for once.

As Yamato wrapped up the last song and thanked his audience a final time, Sora grabbed her jacket, bundled up and headed outside. She knew Yamato would be a while - he had a lot of fans, and they were all probably dying to talk to him. Sora wasn't very fond of crowds though, so instead of staying for all the ruckus, she walked herself to the coffee shop on the corner and grabbed a tall hot chocolate with extra whip cream. She took her sweet, warm drink and walked back to the Shamrock, found Yamato's car, and leaned against it, waiting patiently for him.

"That was a wicked show, Matt! We should play more acoustic stuff, hey - did you see how wild the ladies went for that shit?"

"Heh, I know, it was ridiculous," Yamato responded to his band mate, as he walked towards his car, hauling both his electric and acoustic guitars along with him, "Oh, hey, Sora! Sorry, you been waiting long?"

"No, not at all," Sora lied. She was so charming.

"Ah, thank goodness. Hey, you like the show?" he asked excitedly as he opened the passenger door for her.

"Mmhm!" Sora nodded in response, as Yamato loaded his guitars lovingly into the backseat.

"There we go," he said to himself as he hopped into the front and started the car, "Shit, it is freezing!"

"I hadn't noticed," joked Sora. She was starting to feel too sleepy for conversation now. It had been a long week.

"Alright, let's get you home," Matt proclaimed as he pulled out of the parking lot and started on the drive home.

Yamato was too pumped up on his performance to talk on the way home. He shoved The Killers' newest CD into his car's player, pumped up the bass, and sang along at the top of his lungs. He was way too energized to go home just yet, and as he drove past a Denny's he thought of the perfect solution.

"Hey, Sora, you wanna go stop for some burgers?" he asked excitedly, as he looked around for a route to take him back to the Denny's he had pssed. When no answer came, Yamato looked over and found Sora sleeping in the passenger seat. _Someone must be really sleepy!_ he thought, realizing that Sora had fallen asleep to a pounding bass line and the sound of him nearly shouting out the words to the likes of "Bling (Confessions of a King)". He turned the music and the bass down, and kept driving, chuckling a little to himself.

When they finally reached Sora's house, Yamato gently prodded Sora to wake her up.

Sora jolted upright, "Huh? Where - where am I?"

"Good morning!"

"Oh, Matt! Oh my goodness - did I fall asleep on the ride home?"

"You sure did. But, no worries, you're home now so you can go to bed and get some sleep. You must have had some late nights this week, Missy - it's not even nine o'clock yet!"

"Oh, geez, how embarassing! I hope I didn't... snore or anything," Sora worried.

"Ah, no, no worries. I did happen to write you a little song, though- " Yamato started, but he was cut off by an outburst of laughter from Sora.

"You did not! Matt! It's _pretend!_"

"Hey - hey! At least listen to the song first before you mock it!" Yamato cleared his throat and began to sing. At that moment it became very clear to Sora that he was making this up on the spot, "_A song for my darling Sora, I drove you home and you fell asleep and started to snore-a. I guess I am just that much of a bore-a... But you are the girl that I adore-a... I'd... I'd like to take you to Bora Bora..."_

Sora hit him playfully on the arm, laughing, "Oh, stop it! That is quite enough!"

"Ow!" Yamato groaned, rubbing his arm, "That hurt!"

Sora shook her head, "Okay, so we set the plan into action on Monday? Sound good?"

"Sounds wonderful, pookie. Kiss goodnight?" Matt teased.

"Shut up!" Sora exclaimed, hitting him again.

"Alright, alright! Get outta here already!"

"Okay, I'm gone," Sora decided, unbuckling her seatbelt and getting out of the car, "Good night."

"Good night, starshine. I LOFF YOU!" Yamato continued to mock. Sora rolled her eyes and slammed the door. Yamato rolled the window down, and called after her, "Hey! Say it back!"

"I will not say it back, Yamato Ishida!" Sora called back to him.

"You will, too, or I'm not leaving! ... I'm serious!"

Sora stopped walking up the steps to her house, turned around and gave in, "Alright, alright! If it will make you go away, then I.. "loff" you, too... sweetheart."

"That's better!" Yamato grinned, "See you Monday!"

Sora watched as Yamato pulled out of her driveway and drove off. As she stood there in the cold, she couldn't help but wonder what she had just gotten herself into, and how it was going to go down Monday at school. She shivered with anticipation. This could be heaven, or this could be hell.


	10. A Mess To Be Made

The next day, Yamato was awoken by the sound of pounding on his bedroom door. It was his father, Hiroaki.

"Yamato? Are you planning on getting up anytime soon? It's two thirty in the afternoon," came the voice from the other side of the door.

"Aww, Dad, can't I get a couple more hours sleep?" groaned Yamato, "Whadda you want me up for?"

"Well, we're having guests over for dinner tonight, so you might want to think about getting up and grooming yourself. Oh, and that bathroom of yours needs some attention."

Yamato grumbled as he hauled himself out of bed. He threw on a pair of pants and a top, and opened his door, yawning.

"Are grandma and grandpa coming, or what?" he inquired casually, scratching the back of his head, "Mom and T.K., maybe?"

Hiroaki laughed, "No, and no. Asuza's coming to dinner tonight, and don't worry - I invited Mimi, too. So you better hustle your bustle, kiddo."

Yamato was speechless. He faked a grin for his father, then promptly shut the door and began worrying. He wasn't ready to put Sora's and his plan into action - not today, and not without Sora. But what was he supposed to do? _Shit_, he thought to himself, _shit, shit, shit. _He sighed, shrugged, shook his head, and resolved to go scrub that bathroom while he formulated some makeshift plan of action.

It was quarter to five and Mimi was in her bedroom, applying rosy pink blush to her cheeks. She had already curled her hair, put on the rest of her makeup, and spritzed herself liberally with her favourite perfume. She was wearing a low-cut, sleeveless purple top that tied around her waist with a pale pink ribbon, a flattering pair of blue jeans, and pink flats with little bows on them. Taichi had invited her over tonight for a "special" date, and she had no idea what to expect. She only knew that she simply had to look drop-dead gorgeous. She was just about ready to go when a knock on her door interrupted her. Her aunt poked her head in, and smiled brightly seeing Mimi all dolled up.

"Thank goodness, you're almost ready! We have to leave pretty soon, we don't want to be late," Asuza said, opening the door wider and allowing herself in.

"We?" Mimi asked, confused by her aunt's statement, "And where are _we_ going, exactly?"

"You're such a ham, Mimi," laughed Asuza, "_We_ are going to the Ishida's for a lovely home-cooked dinner with the boys."

Mimi feigned laughter, before commenting, "I don't recall signing on for this,"

"Mimi, don't be silly, I told you about this yesterday, or Thursday, or something, I'm sure of it. I mean, obviously you knew about it or you wouldn't be in here prepping yourself," Asuza responded with an eye-roll.

"No, I'm serious," Mimi argued, "I don't think you told me. And either way, I can't go. I already have plans for tonight. Thus, the prepping."

"Well, you're going to have to cancel them, because you're coming to dinner,"

"Aunt Asuza! You're not my mother, and if I don't want to go with you, I'm not going!"

Asuza glared at Mimi, "Hiroaki has been kind enough to invite the two of us to dinner with his family, and so you _will_ be coming along with me, whether you like it or not!"

With that, Asuza slammed Mimi's door closed. Mimi stared at her reflection in the mirror and tried her hardest not to cry. She picked up the phone, and just as she started dialing, her aunt poked her head back in her door.

"We're leaving in five minutes," she snarled.

"Fine," Mimi snapped back at her, only briefly removing her attention from the phone.

Once she had finished dialing, she waited patiently for an answer, only to be greeted by the pesky dial tone that let her know the number she had dialed was busy. She hung up, and then quickly hit redial. She had to get through, and she had to get through quick. She didn't want Taichi to think she was just blowing him off for no reason. Panic set in as Mimi watched the minutes go by on her clock while she listened to the same, persistent dial tone. Mimi heard the garage door open and she reluctantly hung up the phone. She would just have to try and call somehow while she was at the Ishida's. She dragged herself out of her room, slamming the door behind her, grabbed her winter jacket and trudged out the garage door and into the car.

Mimi and Asuza didn't speak during their ride to the Ishida's, and, although it was essentially a five minute drive, it felt like two hours to Mimi. Two hours of pain - and the real pain of the evening hadn't even begun yet. As they settled inside the Ishida's warm abode for a delicious-smelling dinner of roast pork, rice, asparagus, and copious amounts of wine (which Mimi wasn't allowed to drink, due to her being underage), Mimi began to devise her getaway plan. The four spoke amongst themselves politely as they dined, Hiroaki and Asuza trying to prompt Mimi and Yamato into making conversation. The two reluctantly answered any questions that were asked of them, but they certainly made no efforts to keep the conversation afloat. As the dinner wrapped up, Hiroaki cleared his throat and stood up from his seat.

"I would like to make an announcement," Hiroaki began. Mimi and Yamato briefly exchanged worried glances, but quickly turned back away from each other. Hiroaki nodded his head and raised his eyebrows at Asuza, who promptly stood up and joined Hiroaki. He held her hands in his as he beamed at the two teens.

"Yamato, Mimi," Hiroaki smiled, "Asuza and I are engaged, to be wed in August,"

"We're getting marrrrrriiiieddd!" squealed Asuza, as she squeezed Hiroaki's hands. She was absolutely glowing.

Yamato choked on the piece of meat he had been gnawing on, and quickly washed it down with the remainder of his wine.

"That's, uh, that's, uh... great!" he piped up, a false grin pasted on his face in attempt to hide his shock, "I'm... gonna need some more wine."

Mimi, on the other hand was truly thrilled - Asuza and Hiroaki's marriage meant Mimi and Yamato would be relatives shortly, which also meant that she and Taichi could be together without having to worry about how Yamato would react. Mimi gushed over how happy she was for the two of them, as Yamato pounded back more wine, and Hiroaki and Asuza cleaned up the remnants of dinner.

"Well," Asuza started, "Hiroaki and I are going to go and fix up dessert and tea in the kitchen, so you two play nice until we get back, okay?"

As Asuza and Hiroaki walked to the kitchen with dinner's dishes in hand, Hiroaki remarked to Asuza, "That went over well!"

Mimi watched Asuza and Hiroaki walk off, and as soon as they had disappeared into the kitchen, she rose from her seat, uttered, "Excuse me," and started on her way to find a phone so she could call Taichi.

"Where d'you think you're going?" slurred Yamato, grabbing Mimi's arm and pulling her back to him. His breath reeked of alcohol. He had been drinking wine all night along with Hiroaki and Asuza, who were probably too excited about their announcement to realize how much they were giving him, and it seemed that the effects of the alcohol had finally settled in.

"Let go of me!" Mimi demanded, as she jerked her arm out of Yamato's grip. She turned back around and continued walking towards the living room, where she spotted a phone mounted to the wall. She was just passing the front door when she noticed Yamato was stalking along behind her, she stopped in her tracks.

"What do you want, Matt?" she growled, without even giving so much as a glance in Yamato's direction. Her eyes were glued on the phone.

"I just want a little kiss, that's all," Yamato replied with a smirk, "Don't you want to test drive me once before we're officially cousins? I mean, I know _some_ people don't let the fact that they're related get in the way of romance, but, I'm not into that whole kissing cousins thing, so why not get it out of our systems now, huh?"

Yamato grabbed Mimi's shoulder and shoved her against the front door. He pressed his hips into hers and leaned his head down to kiss her. Mimi's mind began to race; she was panicking. Her eyes darted from one side to the other, trying to devise an escape route and _quick!_ Realizing she was up against the front door, and inches away from her own shoes nonetheless, she maneuvered her legs so that she was able to slip on her pink flats, and she quickly pulled the doorknob. As the door swung open, Mimi stumbled backwards but caught herself and managed to turn around and move out of the way just as Yamato fell over onto the front stoop. When the cold air of the outdoors hit her bare arms, Mimi realized she had left her jacket behind - but it was too late now. Yamato was still toppled over in the entrance, and even if he weren't, there was no way Mimi was going back there. So she just ran as fast as she could, to the only place she knew to go.

"Mimi? Where have you been? I've been waiting for- oh my god, what are you wearing? Did you walk over here in that? Where's your jacket?"

Taichi's questions bombarded Mimi as she stood freezing on his doorstep. She had been outside running for who knew how long, and she couldn't feel her feet, her fingers or her ears. She had likely caught pneumonia, and the last thing she wanted to do now was stand outside the Yagami residence and answer a long stream of questions.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get to all that," Mimi sputtered, her teeth chattering, "Can I come in first?"

"Oh, God, yes, of course! Come in!" Taichi exclaimed, putting his arm around Mimi and leading her inside. When his bare skin touched hers, he gave out a little yelp, "Holy shit! You're frozen! Oh my God, Mimi, what were you thinking?! Here, get in my bed. Get in my bed _now._"

Taichi lead Mimi to his bedroom, and he laid her down in his bed and covered her with layers of blankets. He quickly rummaged through his closet and pulled out a sweater, tossed it to Mimi and instructed her to put it on. Then he exited his room, closing the door behind him to give Mimi some privacy, and disappeared into the kitchen. He returned shortly with two mugs full of hot cocoa and his mother's foot spa, filled with warm water.

"Alright, I know you probably don't want to move," Taichi began as he placed the foot spa beside his bed, with a towel beneath it, and the hot cocoa on top of the bedside table, "but I brought you some warm water in this foot massager thingy my mom has, so you can thaw out your feet."

Mimi slowly sat up and placed her feet in the foot spa, and Taichi sat down beside her and wrapped his comforter and blankets around her. Mimi sipped on the hot cocoa, and smiled as warmth began to return to her body.

"Have I ever told you that you're my dream boyfriend?" Mimi asked Taichi playfully. It was her way of thanking him for being such a sweetheart.

Taichi grinned, "No. And I have a feeling that you're telling me now because you don't want me to be angry that you're late. But that's okay. Feel free to elaborate."

"Hey! I have a very good reason for being late," said Mimi defensively, "In fact, I probably wouldn't have even made it here at all if Yamato weren't such a-"

"Wait a minute! Yamato?" Taichi questioned, his interest piqued. As Mimi filled Taichi in on the story of her fight with Asuza, the busy phone line, dinner at the Ishida's, and Yamato's drunken attempts to pick her up, Taichi could feel the rage inside himself building.

"That son of a-!" Taichi exclaimed as Mimi finished her story," I can't believe he had the nerve to-! And _tonight_ of all nights! And here I was planning-! I just can't believe-!"

All of his thoughts streamed into the next; he couldn't finish a sentence. Mimi, feeling completely thawed out, removed her feet from the foot spa, and used the towel Taichi had set beneath it to dry them off. Both parties had finished their hot cocoa and set the empty mugs on the bedside table. Mimi moved herself to the far side of the bed, where she laid on her side and made eyes at Taichi, grinning coyly.

"Taichi, calm down," Mimi purred, stroking his arm gently, "Let's not dwell on it, okay? Not tonight. We can talk about it tomorrow, maybe. But I'm here now, and I'm just happy that I'm getting to see you after all. So, what did you have planned?"

Taichi's rage melted away as Mimi seduced him with her eyes. It was as if thousands of tiny workers had packed up his anger into little cardboard boxes and stacked them up on a very high shelf somewhere in the back of his mind. How could he be upset when he had a beautiful woman in his bed?

"Well, I was planning to cook you dinner," teased Taichi, finally responding to Mimi's question, "but since you've already eaten, I suppose we could skip straight to dessert..."

Flashing Mimi his signature happy-go-lucky grin, Taichi crawled over his bed until he was directly over Mimi. He leaned down and pressed his lips softly to hers. Mimi wrapped her arms around Taichi's neck, pulling him closer to her and returning the kiss. She was so relieved to just be with Taichi now; comfortable, warm, safe and happy. No annoying relatives, and no drunken admirers - just sheer bliss.

Monday came fast after such an eventful weekend, and as Sora braced herself for her walk to school in the cold weather, she was greeted by a pleasant surprise: Yamato's car out in her driveway. He rolled down his window a crack and called at her to get in.

"What's this all about?" she wondered aloud as she hopped into Yamato's car.

"Well, you're my girlfriend," Yamato responded, rolling his window back up and cranking the heat, "and I'm the kind of boyfriend that spoils his girl. Therefore, you will be traveling to school in luxury from now on. That and we have a couple things to talk about."

"We do, do we?"

"Yeah. What do you have second period? I've got a spare, do you have something you can skip?"

"I've got religion," replied Sora, "but Mr. Stambene's showing us a movie today. Probably some epic football movie. So I think I can afford to skip it."

"Great. Taichi and Mimi have CALM second period, and I know where their classroom is. Their teacher's got a back door that's always open, so we can stand outside their classroom and make out loudly, so as to draw attention to ourselves. One of them or, ideally, both of them will spot us sooner or later, and then they'll likely sneak out and come confront us. Then we have a great opportunity to engage our "We're Dating" plan without it looking contrived."

"Oooh, well played. Sounds like a good plan."

"I thought so. But, uh, there's one more thing," Yamato boldly continued. He was very hesitant to tell Sora about Saturday night's events, but he knew that it was something that he had to bring up with her. If their story was that he and Sora had started dating Friday night, then Yamato had already attempted to cheat on her within a day of being in a relationship with her.

"Yes?" Sora asked, curious as to why Yamato had gone silent all of a sudden.

"Well, um, on Saturday night, my dad invited Mimi and her Aunt over for dinner so that he and Asuza could announce their engagement to Mimi and I at the same time," Yamato started, "and, well, they kept giving me more and more wine, and I kind of..."

"What did you do, Yamato?"

"I just had a bit too much to drink and kind of… came on… to Mimi," he blurted, "And uh... I mean that in the strongest sense of the word."

"So? I don't see what the problem is," Sora responded nonchalantly.

"We were technically _dating_ then. So I potentially tried to cheat on you, drunk or not drunk. So do we stick to our original story? You know Mimi will have already told Taichi about the whole affair, so I can't deny it."

"Ohhh," Sora nodded, understanding the importance now, "Well that balls things up for sure. Shit... well, I say we stick to our original story, and you pretend like you don't remember Saturday. If anyone brings it up, we'll deal with it then. Until it comes out, it's between you, Mimi and Taichi, okay?"

Yamato nodded. He wasn't sure he liked dealing with the situation this way - it seemed neglectful to him - but he trusted Sora. After all, wasn't trust what a relationship was all about? He grinned; he couldn't help but be excited to put their plan into action. _Second period, here I come!_

It wasn't long before Mimi and Taichi found themselves sitting back in Mr. Beshoff's CALM classroom, enduring yet another lesson that they were sure to forget by the time lunch rolled around. Today Mr. Beshoff was asking each of his students who his or her "personal hero" was. It seemed that he only found the answers acceptable if the student's chosen hero was deceased. This, of course, sparked a heated debate with one of the students who sat nearer to the front, who claimed his hero was Tiger Woods, as well as a few surrounding him, whose heroes were people such as Angelina Jolie, and Bill Nye the Science Guy. Despite all the excitement, Taichi still found himself scribbling in his notebook with boredom. _I wish I was kissing you right now_, he scrawled across his page, tearing it out of his notebook, crumpling it up and tossing it to Mimi. A deep pink blush crept across Mimi's cheeks as she uncrumpled the piece of paper and read its contents. She wrote back, _Then why don't we blow this popsicle stand? You get the hall pass, and I'll sneak out the back door._ Taichi grinned reading her message, and glanced casually at the back door to see if it was open so their plan would work. The door _was_ open, but as Taichi's gaze fell upon the open door, something much more exciting caught his attention. Just outside the classroom, Taichi spotted two bodies pressed up against a locker, making out. This normally wouldn't take Taichi by surprise, except that this time the two bodies were his ex-girlfriend and his best friend. Without thinking, Taichi stood up and headed for the backdoor. Mr. Beshoff, noticing Taichi's sudden ascension from his seat, silenced his debaters to call after him.

"Ex-excuse me! Mr. Yagami! We are still in class here! I haven't had the chance to ask you who your personal hero – oh, never mind."

It was too late, Taichi had already passed through the door, slamming it behind him. _Alright then, I guess I'll take the hall pass,_ Mimi thought to herself, raising her hand in the air and waiting patiently to be noticed. Unfortunately, Mr. Beshoff had launched straight back into his debate after the minor disturbance, so gaining his attention now was going to prove difficult. Mimi sighed. Oh, how she hated this class.

Meanwhile, things were about to get heated in the hallway.

"What the hell is this?" demanded Taichi as he stormed over to the entwined lovers. Yamato and Sora, caught off guard, broke off their passionate kiss and turned to face the intruder who ruined their privacy. Yamato couldn't help but grin a little to himself when he noticed it was Taichi who had interrupted the two; their plan was working perfectly.

"What a world we're living in," Yamato said with a smirk, "A guy can't even kiss his girlfriend anymore without being rudely interrupted."

"Girl... friend?" Taichi questioned, a look of puzzlement crossing his sun-kissed face.

"Oh, that's right, you don't know yet," Yamato laughed, "Sora and I are dating now. Since Friday night, in fact,"

"He wrote me a song," Sora offered sheepishly.

"He wrote you a song," Taichi repeated, "And now you're dating? Just like that? But... you guys don't even like each other!"

"Excuse me?" challenged Yamato, "Who made you the judge of other's emotions? Sora and I like each other just fine."

"Clearly," added Sora, running her hands all over Yamato's body. She kissed him on the cheek and nibbled his ear a bit, watching Taichi react out of the corner of her eye. She wondered why she hadn't thought of this earlier; the satisfaction she felt from toying with Taichi was unlike anything she'd experienced before - and she liked it. As she watched Taichi's reactions, Sora took notice of something else. There, just coming out of the doorway of the CALM classroom, was Mimi, who had stopped dead in her tracks. For Sora and Matt, this couldn't get any better.

"So, you break up with me, and then you move on to Yamato within months? We dated for over a year, Sora! You're already over it?"

"This is how I look at it, Tai - you were like... the appetizer in my love life," Sora began to explain, "I mean, you kept me occupied until my main course came along."

"And that's... Yamato?"

Sora nodded, "And I couldn't be more satisfied with my meal,"

Taichi's jaw dropped. His past relationship with Sora had just been compared to an appetizer. All the happy moments they had shared together were now turned into mozzarella sticks and nachos in Taichi's mind - delicious and good for occupying time, but nothing more than filler. Before he could open his mouth in protest of Sora's analogy, Sora and Matt had declared their need for some privacy and pranced off down the hallway, hand in hand. As Taichi stood watching them skip off in complete awe, he felt a hand slip into his empty hand and give it a squeeze.

"I'm so sorry, Taichi," a sweet voice whispered gently to him. Taichi knew right away it was Mimi, and he shook himself out of his trance and turned and engulfed her in an embrace.

"You don't need to be sorry for anything," Taichi sighed, "because, truth be told, you're my main course... so I guess I'm no better than Sora."

"It still wasn't a very nice thing to say," Mimi chimed in, squeezing Taichi and kissing his neck, "but, just so you know, I'm completely satisfied with my meal, too. My compliments to the chef."

Taichi smiled half-heartedly. It wasn't that he wasn't head over heels for Mimi, or that he didn't believe the words he had just spoken, but something about Yamato and Sora's newfound "love" rubbed Taichi the wrong way. Even now, as he embraced the only person who had kept him sane for the past month, his mind lingered on the conversation with Sora and Yamato. It was in those few moments that Taichi realized that this was going to eat at him all day.

As soon as Sora and Yamato were out of ear's reach, they burst into laughter, collapsing against the lockers that lined the hallway.

"Did you see the look on his face, Sora? Shiiiit!," hollered Yamato, "Oh man, and that junk about the appetizer and whatever? That was pure gold! Did you come up with that on the spot?"

Sora nodded, giggling uncontrollably.

"That's my _girl!_" Matt exclaimed, giving Sora for a high five. The two chuckled again, clearly proud of their work. When they had finally finished laughing, Sora turned to Matt.

"So, whadya say we go grab some lunch?"

"What – just the, uh, just the two of us?" Yamato stuttered, taken back by her proposal.

"Yeah, why not?" Sora pushed on, "I mean, we deserve it, after that performance back there. Come on, it's my treat."

"Hey, alright. I drive, you pay… sounds like one heck of a deal – so, where to?"

Sora grinned, "I'm thinking Dairy Queen."

"Dairy Queen?" Yamato choked, his stomach lurching as he recalled taking Mimi there, oh-so-long ago. He swallowed and shook the thought from his head. Time for new memories.

"Dairy Queen it is."


End file.
